Tenchi Muyo, Never an Ending
by datexan
Summary: There never seems to be an ending to the suffering and torment that the Masaki clan and friends are subjected to. This covers the life of each member starting from the end of the OVA series to many years later.
1. Ryoko Freaks Out

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Ryoko Freaks Out

After reading the story from Jason Goodman "Bonds - Chapter 1: "The First Night" form the Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction Archive (www.tmffa.com), and replaying several scenes in the Tenchi OVA series this story came to mind. The scenes I am referring to are in OVA episode 5 where Ryoko was possessed again by Kagato and then at the end of episode 13 when her mom holds her captive in her lab. Others have written about this particular part of the series as well like "June Mermaid" by The Entry Plug from Fan Fiction (www.fanfiction.net), and while they both saw stories going in one direction or the other I just guess I am a bit different and this story came to mind.

For realism, I played the last portion of "Here Comes Jurai" repeatedly till I had all of what Ryoko had said. I am not taking credit for it, I am just citing where it came from. I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me.

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Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Ryoko Freaks Out

Just a few days after the Jurai nobles had left Washu had gotten Ryoko to enter her lab to do a test or two on her, but as soon as Ryoko entered she was grabbed by several mechanical arms and held fast to a wall. Another set of hands stripped her of all but a small purple top that barely covered her. Of coarse she was not happy with this and began screaming at Washu to let her go who responded by having her gagged. To ensure that Ryoko would not teleport or phase out of her bonds a device was placed that circled her hips that disrupted her powers.

Several moments later Mihoshi entered and began to talk to Washu about Dr Clay. Ryoko tried to hide the humiliation and anger by being quiet hoping Mihoshi would not notice her or say anything to the others. But after the blonde left so did Washu, leaving her trapped in the darkness half-naked.

Ryoko hung there, cold and alone wondering what had happened when she started to struggle against the bonds. When she got the gag off, she began to holler out, "Hay, Let me go! Release me! Damn you Washu! Hay, Washu! Washu, Washu, Washu! Washu damn-it! Washu, Hay! Hay...Washu? Do you hear me at all? Hello? Hello there? Here little Washu? Are you there? Washu, hay, anybody? Washu?" Ryoko then began calling her mothers' name between sobs as she was starting to cry now.

She cried for a few moments and began to call out again. "Mommy, please release me! Mommy? Please mommy? Don't leave me here! Don't leave me behind! Please? I don't want to be alone! It's dark, It's Scary! Mommy! Mommy? In tears, Ryoko kept calling out hoping someone would hear her.

Out of desperation she cried out, "Tenchi! Help me..."

Upstairs in his bed Tenchi sat upright as he looked around. "Ryoko?" After hearing, nothing he dismissed it as the wind then started to lie down again.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko called out and began to cry harder.

He knew something was wrong, he had heard her call for him again, he thought, but she was no where to be seen. Turning on his lamp he grabbed a robe and walked to the door. As he looked about he did not see her, but he knew that she had called him. 

Washu was watching her daughter and was starting to think this had gone far enough. For Ryoko, it had already gone too far. Her mind had closed it's self off to everything. Washu felt a cold feeling, the same she had felt a long time ago. But before she could place it a nightmarish scene began to play out in font of her.

In her mind, Ryoko saw another time when she was bound to a wall. Shortly before her attack on Jurai she had shown emotion and spared the life of a family. Kagato had seen this and destroyed them in front of her then punished her. She was again strapped to a wall as waves of pain washed over her body. She cried out in pain but it did no good. He stood before her rebuking her and insulting her for showing weakness.

Involuntarily Ryoko's body shuddered as it relived the horrible experience. Washu watched in horror as her daughter was racked with pain. Then the one thing that she hoped would never happen, was taking place at this moment.

Crying out Ryoko said, "I'm sorry Kagato! I'll never show emotions again!" her body was wracked with another series of energy waves hit her in the nightmare that seemed to be real life. She heard him ask what she will do to which she responded, "I'll kill till there's no one left! I won't be weak, I won't show mercy!"

Falling to her knees Washu realized she had awoken a memory of when Kagato had tortured her. Only now she was reliving that same pain and torture, this time at the hands of her own mother. She began to weep and think of a way to correct this when Ryoko screamed again. If it had not been for being in another dimension at the time all of Japan would have awoken from it.

Tenchi could feel something was wrong horribly wrong. He rushed into the living room and looked up to see Ryoko's pillow, but not her. Running this time to Ayeka's room, he pounded on the door asking her to wake up.

When she did, he asked her frantically, "Have you seen Ryoko?"

"Ugh, you woke me up to ask about her?" This was the one thing that she had hoped he would not have woken her up about. She had been having another dream of them getting married on Jurai. 

"Ayeka, something's wrong; I don't know what, she's in pain you have to help me find her!" His eyes held a begging look that she could not look away from.

She thought about it, but Sasami appeared behind her with a sleeping Ryo-Ohki in her arms and said that they would look for Ryoko. Sasami woke up Mihoshi and the two of them went downstairs while Ayeka headed to the Onsen. In the Lab though, Washu was frantically typing on her laptop when an energy burst scared her. Ryoko had somehow torn her way out of the robotic arms and was now throwing energy beams everywhere destroying the lab.

Ryoko was wearing her red and black battle suit; her eyes were lifeless and glowed with a green tint. In one instant she shot out a large energy blast at Washu that she almost did not dodge and then Ryoko was gone. Ryoko had teleported outside and looked at the Masaki residence. She knew which room the Princesses were in and in a flash she shot a blast through the house at that direct spot.

The blast tore a hole in the wall and raced into the house through the princess's room diagonally and then it exited the house on the other side so that she could see into and through the room. The demon looked and saw that the room had been empty, but the blast was loud enough to alert everyone to her location. The hole was big enough for her to float through without needing to duck or phase out.

Sasami and Mihoshi had been downstairs and were only tossed about from the shock as pots, and other items landed on them. Ayeka had been in the Onsen so she was not hit either. Tenchi who had been in the front room was also safe. He ran outside and saw her there. "Ryoko! What are you doing?"

As he looked up at her, she started to descend towards him and that's when he noticed her eyes. "Ryoko! What's wrong?"

She pointed an energy sword at him and replied, "so Yosho you've come to fight me? Then die!" She hissed and threw several energy bolts at him. Taken by surprise he barely had the chance to defend himself. He dodged the first as it hit the house close to the kitchen. The blast knocked several support beams down. Mihoshi had tackled Sasami as the beam descended upon them.

Washu emerged from the lab and looked about. Hearing a noise from the kitchen she went to investigate. Inside Mihoshi was laying over Sasami who still held Ryo-Ohki and all three were not moving. The ground was covered with pots, pans, wood and other rubble, but the splatters of red that could be seen everywhere seemed to get her attention more. She leaned over hesitantly to investigate when another series of explosions shook the house from outside. 

Running outside she saw Ryoko attacking Tenchi with a ferocity that she had not seen before. Ayeka appeared with her guardians, but with Ryoko in a hyper charged state, she tossed them aside easily. Ayeka tried to create a force field around Ryoko but the devil woman moved to fast for her now.

Ryoko let a massive barrage of attacks on Ayeka that any normal person or Juraian would not have survived. Ayeka had been able to erect a field to protect her just in time while Tenchi also deflected some of the attacks as he called out for Ryoko to stop this, so somehow she had avoided certain death. His grandfather had heard the first explosion and was running down the stairs to investigate. Tenchi said a silent prayer of thanks that his dad had gone on a business trip just this afternoon.

She now stood before him with their swords crossed, her face contorted with evil intentions. He still had to help her but he could not think of how so he spoke softly to her, "Ryoko, it's me Tenchi. Please come back to us? Come back to me..." Though most of what he said did not seem to do anything, that last bit seemed to have an effect as her eyes changed for a moment then she disappeared leaving them all confused.

Tenchi was unsure as to what had just happened, he had never known her to become like this and for her to not recognize him meant that something terrible had happened. For a moment, he stood there with his sword activated looking at the spot where he had last seen her. In his mind, he could still occasionally hear her calling out for help just as he heard when she attacked him, but her lips did not move as she attacked him.

Ayeka stepped up beside him, "Tenchi, are you ok?" Her voice was soft and filled with concern, as her love seemed very confused. His grandfather also appeared and looked at the damage unknowing what had just transpired.

He turned back towards her and Washu. Opening his mouth to speak he could just stare beyond both of them at what was coming out of the house. The two turned to look and they saw Mihoshi covered in what looked like blood carrying an unconscious Sasami who also had Ryo-Ohki on her stomach that appeared to be just waking up, though still quite dazed.

Letting out a scream Ayeka ran to her sister to see if she was all right. Washu was right on her heels but they both smiled when they discovered that the little girl was ok. Both Sasami and Mihoshi had ketchup all over them as they had been in the kitchen when the blast hit near them. And thanks to Mihoshi's incredible luck, both were ok save a bruise or two.

When Tenchi, his grandfather, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi and Washu were all together they were glad to still be alive, but they still did not know what happened. Ayeka was the first to speak, "I never trusted that demon much, this just goes to show..." She was silenced not only by a stern look from Tenchi, but he held his blade in front of her close to her neck. She had never known him to be so hostile about anything and this took everyone by surprise.

"Ayeka, understand this. She's not a demon, she's just a lost soul like yourself that has come to this house." He dropped his sword and everyone including Ayeka took a deep breath. He began again after he had a chance to clear his mind. "I had not seen or talked to Ryoko since yesterday, and she did not seem unhappy or upset about anything. Ayeka when was the last time you saw her?" After he had spoken, he continued with a few relaxation techniques that he had learned.

She looked down as to think then replied, "At dinner last night was the last time I saw her, we were about to fight again when you stopped us, I then excused myself and have not seen her till just now."

He looked at Sasami, who said simply, "I saw her last night too, she left the kitchen while I was cleaning then..." She paused and looked at Ayeka, "Mihoshi and I watched a movie before I went to bed too."

Here sister looked at her startled, "Sasami! You didn't watch THAT show! I told you not to!" Sadly the little girl nodded her head. Everyone else was out of the loop until Mihoshi remembered the movie.

"Oh it was just one of his dad's movies." Everyone looked down and groaned then the thought donned on her, "Well it wasn't one of his graphic ones it was the one where..." Everyone cut her off by screaming her name.

Looking back at the blonde he asked, "When did you last see Ryoko?"

"Oh she was in Washu's lab last time I saw her, but that was after the movie." As she said, this Washu had taken a few steps backward to distance her self.

"Washu? What have you done? Is this another of your experiments?" She could see the anger growing in his eyes, his voice seemed to loose it's natural warmth and everything about him turned cold.

She stepped back another step and began to cry as she told them of what she had done. How she left Ryoko bound against the wall as she watched. Tenchi was almost shaking as he spoke without thinking, "you mean you, her mother, locked her up and tortured her!" He was practically screaming the last parts.

"Tenchi!" He turned to see the stern face of his grandfather. He lost his anger and looked back at the girls. Most of all he looked to Washu.

His words had hit harder than any physical attack could of. She doubled over crying hard telling them that it was just to get her to cool down a bit and then she went ballistic and started talking to the air as if Kagato was there. At the mention of that name his fist clenched around the sword as he began to concentrate hard on a relaxation routine again. When he had regained his thoughts and composure he was able to realize that Washu was upset over what had happened as well.

"The last thing she did," Washu offered in hopes it would calm him down, "was call your name Tenchi before her eyes changed."

Looking at her now with an almost disturbing calmness he asked, "Did she call my name twice?" 

She looked up at him, "Yes, how… how did you know?"

"I heard her call out my name a while ago, then as I turned on the light in my room I heard it again but she wasn't there. Even now I can hear her voice like a faint whisper calling out for help."

Approaching him she asked, "How? How's that possible? You don't have Psychic powers or even a gem to communicate with her?" Washu and the others were equally surprised.

" I don't know, I didn't even have the Master Key in my hand or even near me when I heard it the first time." He realized that this was not the first time he had thought he heard someone call him, but no one was there. He was reminded of when Zero had kidnapped Ryoko and he remembered a similar feeling. "When Zero took Ryoko, she'd said that she called out for help and it was about that time when I was in your lab that I heard someone call my name as well." No one could talk for the moment, as they were surprised at what he was suggesting.

Washu nodded her head; "yes she said that she called out, for you, but... I guess it was at that same time,"

"Tenchi," Katsuhito said, "now that you know this what are your plans?"

Ayeka knew he would go after her despite how much she wanted him to stay away from her. "I'll go and bring Ryoko back to us. Washu, I don't know if she can forgive you for what you did." Her head dropped and she started to cry again knowing how badly she had treated her only family. "But I do know that we all have done things that we wish we could change or forget." He looked at everyone one at a time. "Despite the evil that can lurk in each of our hearts I can still forgive, but things cannot go on forever like this. Washu, can you forgive yourself and change? Ayeka can you forgive and change?"

Both looked at him, he seemed so different so changed. It was as if he had grown twenty years in one night. They could not answer him. Not right now, not yet. Even Mihoshi seemed to be affected by this sudden change. He told Washu to take Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi and even his grandfather into her lab where they would be safe for the moment. He looked in the direction of where he had last seen her. "Remember this, I care for each of you, but you must go to a safe place while I bring Ryoko back."

At that moment, a tortured scream echoed through the woods, sending a shiver through everyone. Tenchi could hear Ryoko call to him as the scream permeated the woods about them. Without another word, he ran off up the stairs. Ayeka tried to go after him but Katsuhito stopped her, "Ayeka! I told you before that there is a time when a man must fight. This is Tenchi's battle." She nodded as the five of them entered the remains of Washu's lab with Ryo-Ohki.

Entering her lab she went to work having her robotic drones start repairing the house while a few worked on her lab. Ayeka and Sasami were amazed at the destruction. Both looked at Washu who felt tears welling up again as they saw the result of her sin against her own daughter.

Ryoko had teleported herself to the top of the cave that had served as her prison and home for the past 700 years. She swore that she could see Kagato and could sense his displeasure that she had failed because of a moment of weakness. Her mind replayed each and every torturous thing that he had done to her in the past thousands of years that she was with him. As her mind replayed the events, she could feel the pain coarse her body like it had never done before.

Unable to control it anymore she began to scream as the torture continued. She would not let him know how much she loved Tenchi and how when she did recognize him she could not fight anymore. But it was no use, she continued to see him being destroyed repeatedly by Kagato as her punishment.

Ryoko wanted to be with him badly but she wanted him to know that she would protect him. However she had been unable to and he was nearly killed on several occasions as she could only stand by helplessly. She then knew that he would never love her, she was a pirate, and a demon just another abomination created to destroy.

Tenchi could feel her agony, he was not sure how, but he used it to locate her. Within moments, he was in front of the cave again. He could see a figure above it that he knew was Ryoko. Climbing up he stood just over ten feet away as he called her name softly.

"Ryoko?"

She looked up and hissed, as all she saw was Yosho and his sword. "Yosho you shall die this time!" She brought up her energy sword and advanced on him.

Tenchi dropped to his knees and bowed his head. "Kill me if you must Ryoko, but first tell me who I am." She laughed and called him Yosho again. "No Ryoko. I'm Tenchi Masaki, your friend. I freed you from this cave. Do you remember?"

Her eyes twitched and her sword began to flicker as he watched her closely. Inside her mind her emotions were fighting the will inside her to strike out at him. Her inner turmoil gave him the time to stand up and move to directly in front of her. The energy sword was still there so he placed a hand on her wrist. At his touch, she lunged at him.

Scarcely able to catch her other wrist before it did any damage to him he caught her other arm, and by some miracle, he managed to use her momentum to bring her down to the ground, with him over her pinning her down. She hissed at him like a caged animal and tried to bite him. At seeing her like this, Tenchi let a tear fall. He could not stand to see her like this when he could hear clearly in his head that she was screaming for help.

Bringing his head down close to hears and repeated several times, "Ryoko, it's me Tenchi. Please come back to me!" As he repeated the words, he felt the voice starting to fade away in his head. He began to repeat the words not only out loud but also to the fading voice. Caught in a mix of emotions he leaned in and gave her a kiss. He tried hard to kiss her with out having his face bit or scratched off, as she struggled against him at first. But the longer he kissed her the calmer she seemed to get.

When her body stopped trying to claw at him and her lips began to kiss back he pulled away to see her eyes had returned to their normal coloring. Overjoyed he leaned in again and gave her another quick kiss. When he pulled away this time, he told her, "Ryoko! I am glad your back!"

Looking at him, she could not say a word. She was conscious of everything that had happened and she cursed herself at trying to kill him. She knew he would never want to see her again, but in the recesses of her mind, she hoped that he would still want her back. She just a few moments ago had heard him begging her to come back, but when he had kissed her it broke the vicious cycle of self-loathing and painful memories.

"Tenchi?" He could hear the weakness of her voice but it still sounded sweet to him. "Why'd you do that, I mean come for me?"

He had not allowed anything to come into his mind other that getting her back and until now he had not been sure as to why. "Ryoko, when you called for me from the lab all I could think about was to come and save you."

Ryoko recoiled as she remembered the lab, but she then looked up at him as if to ask something but unable to form it into words. Tenchi answered her unasked question, "I heard you call my name twice last night and I began to look for you. I am not sure how, but I am sure that you had been calling to me all night." Her mouth hung open as she knew this to be correct, but how, why?

His hand against her cheek interrupted her thoughts, as he placed another kiss on her lips. She may have wanted to know the answers, but they can wait as she returned his kiss. As it continued she rolled him over and looked at him, he could tell what she was thinking by that look in her eyes.

"No Ryoko." When she heard the words some of her hurt returned till he finished. "I love you but the time is not right for that. Just lay down with me, ok?"

Her eyes went wide as he said those words. No one had ever said that to her and no one cared enough about her just to want to stay with her. Unable to speak she just kissed him lightly then curled up beside him on the ledge and began to sleep. Tenchi held her tight as he thought of his own words. "I've said it, I've told one of them that I love them. Now what? What happens when I get home? What happens tomorrow? What do I do?" He looked at the smile on Ryoko's face as she slept. There had been only a few times when he had seen her this happy.

He then realized that he did not care about all those things, all that mattered right here and right now was making the woman in his arms feel safe again. He hugged her close and he too drifted off to sleep as the sun began to rise.

In the lab Washu began to calm a little as she felt Ryoko's thoughts become happy again. Ayeka had allowed her to just sit down as the feelings had started to become too much for her. Ryo-Ohki had tried to calm her while Ayeka, Sasami, Katsuhito and even Mihoshi worked on cleaning up the lab for her.

Tenchi awoke some time later with the feeling of a rock digging into his back, but with having Ryoko lay on his chest he ignored the pain. He lay there and watched her as she slept, this time with a smile on her face and no signs of fear or bad dreams. This was not the first time he had watched her sleep; he had done this several times before when he awoke in the middle of the night to get a drink. He had also watched her as she slept perched up in a tree while he worked in the field.

However, now he was holding her as she slept so he let his hand move through her hair as he lay there pinned down. For once having her this close did not scare him and he did not want to run. Still the thought was in the back of his mind about what he should tell Ayeka, not wanting to face that he desperately began to think of something else. All he could think about though was Ryoko, how soft her hair was as his fingers slid through it, how relaxing the sound of her heartbeat was and how warm her breath felt. He looked at her face and could not help but see just how beautiful she was and how soft her body was against him. Although she was still in her combat suit, she seemed relaxed. Looking at her, he wondered about last night, how he had heard her so clearly. Picturing her in his mind, he began to talk to her image. "Ryoko, I. I'm not sure what to say or how to say it." His mind began to try to forms the words.

While he thought about this he did not know that Ryoko had woke up as he talked to her mental image. Amazingly somehow she heard it, but did not realize it was in her mind. She looked at him and asked, "what did you want to say?"

His eyes shot open as he looked at her, "you, I mean you heard me?"

"Yes, now what are you trying to say?" She leaned over him and brought her face up close to his. For some reason, she did not pick up on the fact that he had not voiced those words.

Regaining his concentration, he told the mental image of Ryoko, "It seems as though our minds have joined."

Unable to believe it she just looked at him as he spoke to her without moving his lips! She responded in kind, to the voice she heard, "Tenchi? If this is you tell me, why'd you come to get me?" Her eyes searched his for what she desperately wanted to hear.

"Ryoko," he began with his voice, "as I said, it seems that our minds have joined somehow." He then finished through their new link, "so now let our hearts join. I love you."

Tears formed in her eyes as she heard those words, but she mentally told him, "please tell me that out loud so I know I'm not dreaming."

Tenchi nodded and cupped her face in his hand as he told her, this time out loud, "Ryoko, I love you." He then kissed her once more as more tears, this time it was tears of joy streamed down her face as she returned the kiss.

After the kiss he sat up and looked at her, "I still have one problem. I'm not sure what to tell Ayeka." Ryoko looked saddened, but not hurt. "I care for her too. I'm not sure what I feel for her. And I really don't want to hurt her." Ryoko could tell that he was telling the truth.

"So, um, what do we do from here?" Never experiencing this type of emotion, she was unsure as to what to do.

Smiling he said, "first off no more experiments for either of us." She tried to grin at his apparent attempt at humor. "Second, we need to return to the house to make sure everyone is ok. And third we need to seriously talk about us."

Floating off him, she gave a reassuring smile and then they walked down the steps to the house. This time as they walked he had his arm around her trying to reassure her that all would be ok. This was a good thing, for when they got close enough to the house for her to see the damage she tried to run again. He held her tight and would not let her go.

"Ryoko," he began softly, "don't run, everything's gonna be ok. Trust me." Looking into his eyes she knew that it would, but that did not make the pain or fear go away. Nervously she approached the house, looking around at the hole through the house and at the damage done to the outside. When they entered the house there was no one to meet them, but there were still things laying around the room that needed to be cleaned.

Tenchi let go of Ryoko to begin cleaning, and Ryoko joined him and together they worked to clean up the living room. After a few moments, Ayeka and Sasami left the lab to inspect the house when they saw Tenchi and Ryoko cleaning. Sasami seeing that Ryoko was no longer trying to kill everyone screamed her name and ran to her. "Ryoko! Ryoko, I'm glad you're back. I was worried about you."

When she heard her name being screamed Ryoko turned around just as the girl ran into her knocking her down. "Easy kiddo. I'm sorry for scaring you. Tenchi's brought me back though I'm not sure that I'd be welcome back here after last night." Ryoko looked at the floor in shame of what happened.

"Well Miss Ryoko, you are welcome back and Miss Washu has explained the situation so it is evident that it was not entirely your fault." Ayeka looked at Ryoko and Sasami and could not help but feel sorry for this tortured soul that Ryoko was. But more than that Ryoko was a friend that was hurting. Just a year ago she would have tried to kill anyone that implied that she liked this pirate, but now she is admitting it herself.

Standing Ryoko looked at Ayeka, "I, I'm not good at this, but I wanted to say I'm sorry for attacking you and destroying your room."

"It's alright you pirate, just don't let it happen again." Ayeka said the word pirate with a bit of playfulness; very different from the tone she had used so much in the past. She did not know that Tenchi had proclaimed his love for the pirate, but his actions had done that for him yesterday. She may not be entirely happy about it, but she did have to admit that they seemed to really love each other. And she knew that someday she would find a love like that as well.


	2. Washu's Escape

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Washu's Escape

This is a continuation of "Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending." This takes near the end of "Ryoko Freaks Out." I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me.

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Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Washu's Escape

Washu watched from her lab as most everyone spent the next several hours after the small reunion cleaning the house. The reunion was completed when Katsuhito had returned to the house shortly after Sasami and Ayeka had. Mihoshi left the lab after he had as well. The drones that Washu had sent out had finished repairing the major damage, returned to her lab, and joined those already working there to repair the damage. Now the only thing left to do in the Masaki house was putting the smaller things back up where they belonged.

To her is seemed strange to be watching this as Ryoko seamed to do the most today as she felt directly responsible for this mess. Her daughter had not done much cleaning in the past, but that did not keep her from trying. Even Ayeka had told her several times that it was not her fault but she still felt guilty about it. Washu knew it was her own fault that her daughter had attacked them, and it should be her feeling the guilt now, not Ryoko.

Just a few hours away from dinner time Sasami went to the onsen to clean up and then to change clothes before she returned to start dinner. She had hoped that after a good dinner, everyone would feel better and maybe Nobuyuki would not be mad at the destruction of his house. After some time Sasami poked her head out of the kitchen, "Ok, dinner is about an hour away. So that gives all of you time to get cleanup up."

Through her monitors, Washu watched as Ayeka and Mihoshi pulled Ryoko away from cleaning the room and took her to the onsen. Tenchi watched those two pull her away from this and he could not help but smile at how things have changed, hopefully for the better before he too left to get cleaned up. Sleeping out in the ground had left his clothes dirty and stained but to have Ryoko back made it worthwhile.

She had put her monitors in every room and more in the bathing areas so she could keep a constant watch on the family. At least that is what she told herself, but she found it interesting at how may times Tenchi took a bath or shower thinking he was alone to express his thoughts, but she had heard every word. She had heard him fantasizing about Ryoko now and then and she was annoyed several times at how he never thought of her when he fantasized. "But then again you look like a twelve year old," her mind retorted. She just sighed and then laughed as she realized he didn't do that with any of the others either.

Bypassing on watching Tenchi again, as it no longer served a purpose to her, she watched the three girls in the onsen. For a while she thought her microphones were broken as she could see Ayeka's mouth moving as if she were talking but there was no sounds. Turning the volume up to maximum, she nearly fell over when Ayeka finally spoke. "Um, Ryoko?" The princess' voice reverberated through the lab as Washu frantically turned the volume down.

"Yes?"

"Did Tenchi tell you?"

With her mind still swirling with guilt, joy, and nervousness Ryoko tried to act nonchalant about it, but her nervousness gave her away, "Tell me what?" Washu tried not to laugh at her daughters' attempt.

Ayeka gave her a sly smile, "That he loves you?" Her cool demeanor and the lack of eye contact made Ryoko shift about nervously.

"I, well, he," she tried hard to think of something as she was completely caught off guard and she was not sure Tenchi wanted anyone to know about this yet. She scoffed inwardly at the idea, as she had been telling the princess for years that he loved her, but now that it was true, she wasn't going to say it. Thankfully for her, Mihoshi was the one to respond.

"Is that why he threatened you with the sword?" Her bubble headed ways caused Ayeka to grit her teeth as she had been enjoying this.

Ryoko instantly picked up on what the ditz had said; "He threatened you!"

"Yea," Mihoshi giggled, "She called you a pirate and he held the sword up to her neck saying..." She paused for a moment as Ryoko leaned over towards her. "Um, I forgot what he said." Ryoko's eyes shot open and she lost her balance falling over into the water.

When she came up out of the water both Ayeka and Mihoshi were laughing, Ayeka being the one to do it quietly. Between laughs, Mihoshi asked her, "Why are you trying to wash your hair that way?" Ayeka lost her ability to hold it back and began laughing at the ditz.

The wet pirate did not like the thought of being laughed at so she shot the princess a evil glare causing Ayeka to recoil a moment. In an attempt to change the subject, the princess asked her question again, "Well did he tell you he loves you?"

"Oh yes Ryoko! Did he tell you?" Mihoshi was leaning forward now with her hands clasped as if she were begging to know.

Remembering her link with Tenchi, she called out to him "Tenchi?"

Washu just watched with interest wondering why her daughter had gotten so quiet suddenly. She turned her attention away from the scene as her machines began recording something. She took a quick peek at it and discovered that Ryoko was having a telepathic conversation with someone. It did not even take the little genius a second to discover whom she was talking to. "Tenchi," she said with a wistful smile, as she remembered how her daughter used to talk to her mentally, before, before... She did not even want think of it or him at this time.

"Huh, yes?" Tenchi responded to Ryoko almost like he was coming out of a dream.

"Ayeka wants to know if you love me? Should I tell them?" She asked and her feelings of nervousness began to wash over him.

"I know you've wanted to for so long and have even told her before, but please don't upset her, ok? I do love you." Along with his mental words, he tried to reassure her with his own feelings, but this link was new to him, so he hoped that she understood.

Washu turned back to her monitor with tears brimming in her eyes, she missed her daughter, and the way she used to be. Ryoko's voice tore her away from her memories. "Yes, he did. He loves me!" She told her friend's happily.

Mihoshi shouted, "Oh I am so happy!"

The spiky haired scientist was treated to a rare surprise as Ayeka did something truly unusual she hugged Ryoko. "I'm happy for you," she told Ryoko.

"You mean it?" To which Ayeka just nodded. 

Washu was near tears when she heard her machine beeping. It's monotone voice echoed, "Experiment Completed." Washu looked at the display and saw that it had finally finished compiling the data she collected from Ryoko last night.

"Experiment," she said quietly, "It's all been an experiment." She read over the transcript and could see the experiments heart rate, brain waves and more were displayed. Anything that was spoken had been recorded as well with the experiments vital statistics next to it. Never before did she realize it was there, it was not until she saw the lines that read, "Experiment: Mommy? Mommy! Don't leave me alone!" with her daughters' heart rate and other information that it truly hit her.

She vividly recalled how shortly after she called out to her, to her mom that she began to degrade into a false reality. "I, I tortured her. Just like he did." The papers fell from her hands as she looked around the room contemplating what she had done.

A memory came back from the recesses of her mind. "Doctor Hakubi," Kagato had said, "Why are you doting over that like it's a child? You'll confuse the poor thing. Place the experiment on the table I have the next set of tests ready to run." She had been unable to explain her feelings and did as he asked. She watched as he cut her daughter with a scalpel, and then recorded the time that it took to heal. The entire time Ryoko was screaming in pain, but he paid it no mind. When she confronted him about it, he had said to her, "Doctor, it is just an experiment, and might I say well designed. Why are you getting so attached to it, it's no different than those small creatures you made us dissect in class."

Washu fell to the floor as the memories washed over her and tears formed in her eyes. "He was wrong!" She screamed to no one.

Tenchi's words came back to haunt her, "Washu? What have you done? Is this another of your experiments?" She tried to tell him no but she could not say a word as he continued, "you mean you, her mother, locked her up and tortured her!"

To complete her own mental torture she looked back at the paper only to see the words "Damn you Washu." In that instant she lost her ability to reason, her entire being became engulfed in darkness. All around her, she could see experiments of different sorts that she was running and tests being done. 

"Experiments! You're all Experiments! Get out!" Screamed a frantic Washu as she proceeded to annihilate the remnants of her lab. Soon all that was left was just a cold empty room with her in the middle. The steel floor reminded her of her coldness to her favorite experiment that she had called a daughter. She could not stand the way she had acted in the past and even now. "She hates me." Was all she could say before disconnecting her lab from the Masaki house. Then falling to the floor, she closed off her link to her daughter so that she could no longer intrude on her experiment.

Outside the lab, no one noticed her rampage or even her cutting off her lab from the house. But as Ryoko told the two girls in the bath with her about how Tenchi told her he loved her she suddenly felt something strange. There was a strength or a presence that suddenly left her that made her feel weak. The loss she could not place, as it had always been there. With this sudden loss and weakness developing it caused her to fall over. She did the only thing she could and called out to Tenchi for help.

Even as Ryoko was falling over into the water Ayeka and Mihoshi caught her and tried to hold her up. She could not explain what happened, it was such an unusual feeling. Her two friends were holding her up as Tenchi burst in clad in a pair of shorts. Seeing Ryoko like that he went to her side and lifted her out of the water and took her to a bench beside the water.

"Ryoko? What's wrong?" He cried frantically trying to get a response, but she gave none. Seeing that she was not going to respond right now, he asked over his shoulder at the other two, "What happened?"

"Maybe she drank to much?" Mihoshi offered.

"I doubt it," Ayeka piped in, "She didn't even have one drink." She placed a hand on his shoulder, "She was telling us how you saved her by telling us that you love her then she fell over. We were trying to hold her up when you came in."

Tenchi mulled over what she said just briefly and he noticed that Ayeka was truly concerned, and more importantly, she did not doubt what Ryoko had told her. He was glad about that part but he only spared a few moments thoughts over that before trying to reach Ryoko through their link. "Ryoko? What happened?"

"I... I don't know." It may not have been much but at least she was responding at last so he let out a slight sigh that it might be ok.

Mihoshi was the one to come up with the best idea so far. "Maybe we should take her to Washu, she'll know what to do."

Although Ayeka felt like slapping the ditz for suggesting that they take Ryoko back to the lab where this all started she had to admit it did seem like the best idea. "I agree, while that may not be the best place to take her, only Washu will know what to do."

Tenchi nodded his head, scooped up Ryoko in his arms, took her to the living room, and placed her on the couch. Ayeka went to get her something to wear only to remember that Ryoko just phased into the clothes she wanted to wear. This meant she did not have any clothes anywhere to get. Groaning she threw her hands up into the air and went into her own room and brought down one of her own robes. She placed it around Ryoko and fastened the front as her friend huddled on the couch. Once she was done she stood up and looked at Tenchi and Mihoshi standing in front of the closet.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to get her?" He turned to her with a confused look on his face. It was not until Mihoshi moved that she saw the broom in the closet. Then it hit her why they had not gone in to get Washu.

Mihoshi just looked confused and told her, "Washu's gone, she's not there?"

"That's it!" Ryoko proclaimed to Tenchi through their link.

"What's it?" He asked her aloud.

"She's gone. I, I can't feel her anymore..." Her voice was a mix of emotions that made them all wonder. She seemed happy that Washu was gone, yet sad as well. Tenchi and Mihoshi stood by the closet while Ayeka sat beside her.

"Are you sure she's gone?"

Ryoko look at her friends and then nodded slowly, "She's always been there, I guess. I never knew who was with me, but she always was. Now, I, I can't fell her." She looked at them smiling nervously, not really sure if she liked this. After what Washu had put her through the other night, she was not sure if she wanted to see the little scientist again.

"Ryoko, do you really miss her?" She heard him say to her mentally, and at first she wanted to say no, but despite how much she hated her at times, she did miss her.

"Yes. I never believed her when she said she knew so much about me, but..." her inner-voice trembled as she tried to talk to him. "But, without her I feel so empty."

"I know, I felt the same when I lost my mom, and grandma. But do you think anything happened to her?" He continued the conversation mentally as he thought that no one else needed to be involved yet.

She suddenly turned to Tenchi with a worried look, "I don't know... I don't think anything could have happened this fast without her saying or doing something."

They both began to think of possibilities while Ayeka tried to comfort the pirate turned friend. Even she had to admit that this was a switch from just over a day ago. Mihoshi went into the Kitchen to help Sasami and she told the little princess that Washu seemed to be gone. Immediately Sasami ran into the living room to see for herself. Tenchi tried his best to tell her what was going on and then she went outside.

Mihoshi just sat at the table, as the past days events seemed to overcome her, she cold feel her mental state falling apart. She had spent such a long time trying to piece it back together and now it was falling apart again.

Sasami was not sure where she was headed, but she felt her feet carrying her down to the lake. Ayeka watched her leave, then a moment later she followed her sister. Tenchi sat beside Ryoko as he snuggled against his side hungry for the feeling of being complete again. She did not want to have to have Washu back, but she missed her despite herself.

Reaching the end of the dock the little girl looked at her reflection and sighed, it was her own reflection. "Tsunami," she called.

The water rippled a moment and then Tsunami was there as Sasami's reflection, "Yes Sasami?"

"What happened? Where's Washu?"

Ayeka stood back and watched with interest. The air before her sister shimmered a moment then the visage of the goddess Tsunami appeared. "Washu lives, she is in her lab. But as to what happened it is best if she tell you instead of me."

"But how? We can't get into her lab?"

"One of you can if she had her full power back. And it is she that needs to go more than any other." Both Ayeka and Sasami thought about that for a moment and they knew the goddess referred to Ryoko, but with Washu missing then, she would not be at full power, would she?

While Sasami sat there thinking about it Ayeka walked over to her, "Do you think she will go get her?" Sasami just shrugged her shoulders. The two princesses' stayed there on the dock thinking for a few minutes before returning to the house. While they were outside Mihoshi was busy setting the table and finishing what Sasami had been working on in the kitchen. She was doing it more of a way to cover up how she felt herself falling apart. Out on the couch Tenchi held Ryoko close to him trying to comfort her.

"I don't want to miss her, I don't want to need her." She told him mentally, as she could not seem to say it out loud. "She's never been there when I needed her and she let him take me away! After what she did to me last night I don't ever want to see her again!" As she told him how much she did not want to miss her or even be near her again her body betrayed her thoughts as she cried and clung to him.

The way she talked and the way she acted was complete opposites, but he could tell that she did miss Washu, even if she did not want to. However, after her last comment he began thinking of something as he heard Mihoshi setting the table. "Ryoko, didn't they say that she was imprisoned on the Soujya?"

She could not look at him or even acknowledge it, as she knew it was true. That was the only thing that could turn her arguments to dust. Since she was locked up there, she would have been unable to save Ryoko, and would have been unable to prevent him from taking control of her. Instead, she just kept thinking to herself, "I don't want to miss her, I don't want to need her." Ryoko still could not forgive her mom for the way she has acted since her release.

It was then that the two princesses' returned. Upon entering the room, they saw Tenchi sitting on the couch still only in a pair of shorts with Ryoko nearly sitting on him wearing Ayeka's robe still. The pirate had her head resting on his chest while he stroked the back of her head with one hand and was holding her close with the other. There was no doubt to either of them that those two were in love, but they both were hurting. Ryoko hurt from missing her mom, while Tenchi hurt seeing her like this.

The elder princess whispered into her siblings' ear, "I will talk to them." To which she just nodded her head and went back to the kitchen. "Lord Tenchi, Miss Ryoko." She said authoritatively to get their attention. When both of them looked at her, she nearly cried herself at the pain and anguish in Ryoko's eyes.

"Sasami and I have talked to Tsunami and she said that there is someone who can reach Washu, and that Washu is still alive."

"Can she reach her?" Tenchi asked for Ryoko.

Ayeka shook her head, "No, but Ryoko can. But she needs to be at her full power to do it." Tenchi and Ayeka looked at Ryoko who sat there silent for a few moments.

Finally Ryoko spoke, her voice sounded weak and completely unlike her. "I can't do it. Not after what she did to me." Both her friends dropped their heads as they could not really blame her for that, but unless she went, their family would not be complete.

Ayeka had a bit of inspiration and told her, "Miss Ryoko, do you think you're the only child to be tortured by their parents?" Ryoko looked at her strangely, as did Tenchi. "When I was young my mother dressed me up in the ugliest things," she told them as she approached and sat down beside Ryoko. "Then she would take me all over the palace talking about how cute I was while all of the other nobles tried not to laugh at me. I hated it, I hated every minute of this torture." Ryoko tried to speak but Ayeka would not allow it, "Do you remember when they came here? I felt humiliated to have to call her mommy like that in front of you."

She let her head sag slightly then regained her composure to keep from crying as well. These were not her favorite memories she was sharing and a true princess was not supposed to let others know when she felt that humiliation. "Even Nobuyuki tortures Tenchi." She added causing him to shift uncomfortably.

"She's right, he's always talking about me choosing one or all of you and he is just so, so..." He could not find a way to express how annoyed he was at his fathers antics at times. "Ryoko he even stood on a ladder to videotape us the night you first came to my room. I found the tape and could not believe it at first." Tenchi did find it hard to believe that his own father acted like this and even tried to get him to peep at the girls while at the Hot Springs. At least until Ryoko caught him in the act.

"But she..." Ryoko tried to tell them about how many times her own mother had treated her so horribly, but she could not argue with them. Ayeka had shared a part of her she wanted to keep hidden and unknown and it must have been hard for her to say it. Tenchi as well had shared with her about his own torture, but that did not make her want to just up right away and go to her mom. But it did get her thinking.

"Ryoko," his soft voice cut the growing silence. It carried with it a note of sadness, "You still have your mom, I don't. When my mom was very sick I did not understand why she never wanted to play with me. I, I got tired once of her always being sick so I told her I hated her." At his words Ayeka's eyes shot open wide from shock as Ryoko too stunned to move just listened. "It was shortly after that that I lost her for good. I always blamed myself saying that I caused her death. Because of me, because of my actions she died. That is why I could not pick for so long, I knew that I would hurt someone and I could not hurt someone again."

Tears began to fall from his eyes as his memories played out before them all, "It was several years later that Grandma died too, and I thought it was something I said or did." He did not try to wipe the tears away as his memories threatened to overtake him. "I know you still miss her, don't make my mistake. You still have a mother."

Both of the girls, listening felt very sad for him and what he had to go through, and realization dawned on both of them as to why he did not want to choose one over the other. Shame was felt by both of them at how they forced him every day to relive his painful past when they would try and force him to choose. Ryoko was able to see that although Washu had seemingly tortured her on several occasions it was nothing compared to the torture that she and Ayeka forced on him every day. They both felt ashamed of their past actions and both were unsure how to respond to that.

Sasami was the one that broke the unsettling silence. "Dinners ready," she told them trying to smile. Slowly the three of them got up and headed to the table, Ryoko who was still a little disoriented from her recent loss had to have help standing and moving toward the table. Dinner was very quiet, as the past two days had been very taking on them all, and even still now things were not back to normal. Tenchi did wonder about the normal way and he wondered if it could return to normal and he discovered that there would have to be a new norm as the old one could never return.

Washu cried on the floor of her lab for an unknown amount of time. She did not really care to know how much time had passed, and in her lab there were no windows to the outside world so she could not even tell if the sun was up or down. Instead all she had was the memories of her life to keep her company. But it was not welcomed, as every bad memory screamed at her and accused her of failing at being a mother, at failing to be a wife and failing at being a scientist. Each time she thought the tears would stop a new memory would surface brining more tears with them.

She did not know she was hungry, or even that it was near time to eat, there was nothing in her but loneliness and emptiness to keep her company. She did not think that closing off the link would have hurt so much but it has gone beyond anything she had ever done in the past. When her husband had left with her son she felt emptiness like this too, but no as strong. She could only guess that it was because of the several thousand years she had spent connected to her daughter. "Experiment! She's an experiment!" a voice inside her mind screamed.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi asked her mentally to which she just responded with a yes before he continued. "Don't you think this has gone on long enough? I know you are missing her more than you let on. Don't you want her back?"

Se sat in quiet thought for a moment, "As much as I hate to say it yes. I, I don't even know why."

"She's your mom, and even though you can't stand her at times she is still that." Ryoko could not argue with it, she knew it to be true, even if she hated the little scientist.

Ryoko's voice broke the silence that had descended on the dinner table; "Did Tsunami say how I can get to my full power?"

Both Ayeka and Sasami shook their heads. Mihoshi though had not heard of much of the conversation decided to throw her thoughts in, "Wow Ryoko, if you're not at your full power then how much do you have?" Ryoko just shrugged her shoulders and thought for a moment.

"Well Miss Ryoko once nearly destroyed Jurai, so she has a lot of power. Were you at your full power then?" Those at the table looked at Ayeka strangely, as she seemed to speak of her greatest adversary almost in awe of her strength.

"Um," she began trying to think of how to talk about something else other than that time. "But Yosho still beat me."

"Oh how'd he do that?" the blonde ditz added.

Tenchi jumped into it there, "But Yosho took away her gems, as the legend says three gems for power." He then ran upstairs as the rest of the table stood up to watch him go only to return with the Tenchi-Ken. "Ryoko I trust you and I know you would never harm any of us." As he spoke he held out the sword and then closed his eyes. He remembered how she had told him to just pray for them to be returned and just like before the remaining gems glowed a moment then reappeared on her.

Ryoko placed her fingers at the base of her neck where her third gem was in disbelief, then looking at the other two on her wrists. She had not asked for them back, and he said he trusted her with them, that alone touched her more than anything else could have. She stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, but she did not fell the need to squeeze very hard. He responded by hugging her back, then saying to her mentally, "I love you Ryoko."

When they parted Ryoko had a smile on her face and seemed to be able to stand on her own again. He thought it was either from her getting used to things again or from the added strength of the gems. Stretching her arms out she announced to everyone, "Damn this feels good." The other three females just snickered a moment before she placed a hand under his chin. "Thank you," she said to him before leaning in to give him a quick kiss, and as she kissed him, she told him mentally that she loved him too. No other words were needed and so as the kiss ended she began concentration on her gems and faded from sight.

Excusing himself from dinner he went to the living room, sat on the floor beside the couch, and began to run through some of his realization techniques, as he knew he would need them soon. He was not sure what Ryoko would face once she got to Washu but he purposed in himself to be ready in case she needed to talk to him. Ayeka, Sasami & Mihoshi finished their dinner and then began cleaning up afterwards. All three of them were uncertain about the future and but the one thing they did hope was that they would all be a family again.

Upon arriving in the empty dark room, Ryoko thought at first that she was in the wrong place. "Oh great," she muttered mentally before starting to look around. This was supposed to be Washu's lab, but there were no machines, no tanks, no nothing around. All that there was in this huge space was a floor and herself. A sound assaulted her ears and she approached the sound. What she saw was beyond anything she could have expected. What she saw was Washu lying on the floor crying as her body trembled. The sight was tearing at own heart, she approached her mother, and kneeling behind her, she placed a hand on her mothers' shoulder.

Washu rolled back towards the hand on her shoulder and looked up through burning eyes to see of all people, Ryoko. Instantly her mind was trying to find out the truth and she asked herself many questions, "How did she get here? Why is she here? What does she want?" But the answers were not there.

Ryoko kneeled beside the crying Washu with her on her mothers' shoulder. Why her mom was like this, she did not know. But something was obviously troubling her deeply, so Ryoko decided to do what she could. After what had happened the previous night, Washu was not her favorite person right now, but Tenchi had said that he did not want her to make his mistake. And so for him she was going to try and get along with her mom.

It took some time before either could speak, but finally Washu's voice broke the silence, but not with it's normal sound. Instead it was soft and weak, very much the opposite of every memory Ryoko had of her. She spoke a single word, "Why?"

The anguish that Ryoko could visible tell Washu was in was supported by the voice, and although she hated to say it, she felt sad and concerned for her. She had prepared many things to say to Washu as she expected the find the little scientist typing away merrily at her keyboard or running an experiment. However, that was not what she found and even now she did not know what to say. Ryoko did the one thing that she had hated to admit, she told the crying Washu, "I was worried about you."

Ryoko helped Washu into a sitting position as her mom looked at her carefully, then threw her arms around her daughter crying. The ex-pirate was not used to this, and for a moment was unable to move, but finally after thinking of Tenchi and what he would do it became easier to do the next thing. Ryoko wrapped her arms around Washu and held her mother as she cried. There was nothing else that she could think to do, nothing else felt right, and strangely enough Ryoko found that tears were falling from her own eyes as well.

As the time passed Ryoko could feel Washu calming down a little, but she was still unsure what to say, so she did the best thing she could think of. In her mind she reached out and found that he was waiting for her. "Tenchi?"

"Yes?" He responded, but she could fell that he was nervous and worried as well.

"Washu is crying, what do I do?"

"She's crying? Last time she cried was about my nephew..."

"She cried then?" To him she sounded surprised.

"Yes, but I think... I think it was because she lost them. You don't think she's still sad about that do you?" Ryoko just mentally shrugged at him. He began to think of other possibilities, and he remembered how Washu had cried the night before. "I think I know..." he said softly to her, "but I'm not sure how to..." His mental voice dropped off as he tried to get his thoughts in order. Finally with his thoughts in order he concentrated on Ryoko and allowed her to see what he saw the other night.

She gasped in surprise as he began to show her what happened the other night, but this time from his eyes. She had been surprised to find out her mom had cried several times and each time she had not noticed. But what really stuck out in her mind was how genuinely Washu seemed as she told them about what she did to Ryoko. At first she wanted to strangle the pipsqueak as she was watching the whole thing, but then she heard him talking to Washu she felt sorry for her mom. 

His voice rang out; "You mean you, her mother, locked her up and tortured her!" He then went on to tell them all after he calmed down, "Washu, I do not know if she can forgive you for what you did. But I do know that we all have done things that we wish we could change or forget." He looked at everyone one at a time. "Despite the evil that can lurk in each of our hearts I can still forgive, but things cannot go on forever like this. Washu, can you forgive yourself and change? Ayeka can you forgive and change?"

Ryoko too started crying at hearing his words, as he was right. They had all done things that they were not proud of, and he was asking them if they could change. Ryoko looked back at her mother who was still crying, not as hard as earlier, but still crying.

She understood it now, and she was not happy to understand. Ryoko wanted to remain upset at her, to hate her and to never talk to her again, but Tenchi asked Washu to forgive herself and change. That was what it was, she was certain of it, and had it not been for the new emotions from Zero then she might never had understood. Washu couldn't forgive herself. She felt ashamed of her own words now, at how she had said, "damn you," on so many different occasions.

"This has to stop," she told herself. Tenchi had asked them all to change and she was going to include herself although he did not say it specifically to her. Summoning up all of her courage she opened her mouth to speak, then closed it quickly as she thought, "What do I say?" 

She could hear in the back of her mind almost like a whisper from long ago, "tell her you forgive her."

The voice had not been Tenchi's and she would have sworn it to be Zero's but the memory sounded more like herself than anything else. Finally, she opened her mouth and spoke, "It's ok mom, I forgive you." Her own eyes went wide as she heard the word 'mom' come out of her mouth, but she had to admit it did feel good to finally call her that.

Washu's eyes also went huge then closed them due to the pain she was feeling in them. She pulled away from her daughter to look at her and the look of contempt was gone, instead her daughter was kneeling there smiling at her. "Maybe I was wrong," thought Washu as she looked at her daughter. She began crying again and holding onto Ryoko, but this time, she had the beginnings of a smile. Her smile broadened as her daughter returned the embrace.

After several more minutes, she reconnected herself to her daughter mentally again. This time she felt Ryoko actually opening herself up allowing her into her life. Not in many years had Ryoko done that, and even after the two of them were reunited on the Soujya did she do that. Washu had always had to pry into her daughters' life and find the information out, but now she was willingly allowing it. So Washu too opened herself up to her daughter and they began to communicate mentally like mother and daughter.

Outside the lab, Tenchi smiled at what he was feeling from Ryoko. Dinner had passed some time ago but he found upon opening his eyes that Ayeka and Sasami waited eagerly for word. Looking down at Ryo-Ohki who was sitting before him, she smiled at him and he knew that she was listening to them as well. He then told the others that they were both fine and that when they come out Washu may be hungry.

The princesses smiled at him and Ayeka asked him to tell them goodnight for her then proceeded to go to her room. Sasami; however, rushed to the kitchen to make sure she had something ready for them. Tenchi helped to get something ready for them then he sent Sasami off to bed while he and Ryo-Ohki waited for Ryoko and Washu to emerge from the lab. "It was a good thing Sasami did not make something that had to be warm," thought Tenchi when the two finally emerged form the lab two hours later.

When Ryoko saw him she immediately went to him and hugged him to which he not only accepted but also returned. Washu watched them with a sly smile and told them, "Ya know Tenchi, I had thought at one time I would not mind starting over as long as you're the father."

Ryoko glared at her mother and smiled, "Sorry mom, but you're gonna have to settle for being a grandma." She then smiled at him wickedly causing him to gulp nervously at what she was implying. Not the thought of being with her was bad; just he did not want kids right now. "Oh don't worry My Tenchi I've waited for you to love me for this long, I guess I can wait on that for a little longer." He sighed with relief until she added, "I can wait at least a month."

Tenchi just sighed and hugged her again as mother and daughter both laughed. He did not know what the future held but he knew it would be interesting with her and her mom around, as he did not see either of them ever leaving. And if they did, he knew that he would have to go with them because just like Ryoko was connected to her mom he was connected to Ryoko.


	3. Ayeka's Decision

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Ayeka's Decision

This is a continuation of "Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending." This takes place just after "Washu's Escape." I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me.

*****

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Ayeka's Decision

"What do I do now?" Thought the Elder Princess of Jurai. The past two days still fresh in her mind as if they were only five minutes ago. "Just under a week ago we were fighting over him, and now..." Her inner voice trailed off as she turned over in her bed. "Now, she has him. Well they have each other." Ayeka could not be mad over what happened, as Tenchi had made his choice, and made it very clear. Of coarse he had not said the words out loud but she had guessed from his actions how he felt about 'her'.

"He was so hurt that night..." she remembered how upset and lost he looked when Ryoko had seemingly lost control of herself. Clearly, she could remember the anger in his eyes, and the hum of the energy sword he had held at her neck when she had called Ryoko a name. He made it quite clear that he did not want Ryoko to be called anything like a demon or pirate anymore. That and when he announced that he could hear, of all people, 'her' in his mind calling out for help she knew it was over. The rivalry had lasted for a long time only to be stopped suddenly.

Ayeka knew that Tenchi and Ryoko were together in his room, not that she could fault them on it. After Hearing Ryoko's screams the other, night Ayeka did not even know if she could get to sleep. The tortured scream still echoed in her mind. No one on Jurai had known that the pirate the demon was actually being controlled by another against her will. They had just assumed she worked for Kagato for the thrill of killing. But after that night, Ayeka knew what happened, Kagato tortured Ryoko routinely and forced her to kill.

Just that thought alone sickened the princess and she wondered how anyone could have kept sane through that. Ayeka had never been through anything even remotely close to it and she thought just knowing about it she would loose her own sanity. She shook that thought out of her head, as she had her family and friends to keep that from happening. "I have Tenchi, Sasami, Washu, Mihoshi and..." she trailed off a moment then continued, "and Ryoko as friends. They will help me."

She smiled softly as she remembered taunting Ryoko in the onsen. She has asked the pirate, "Did he tell you?" It had been funny to see her squirm like that as we all knew it, but she seemed nervous about telling us. Finally Ryoko had spilled the beans and told them everything. The princess had soon found herself doing something that no one on Jurai would have ever dreamed of, even in nightmares. She hugged Ryoko and told her that, "I'm happy for you." Even now that memory brought a tear to her eyes.

"I am, I am happy for them. My... my friends." Calling her a friend was still new but after these past two days, she knew she would rather have no one else for a friend. She was even concerned, truly concerned when Washu disappeared. She thought her friend would never be the same again if the Scientist truly went away. Ryoko had been too shaken up over Washu's disappearance to even put on some of her own clothes, so Ayeka had let her borrow one of her own robes.

"My robe," she thought wistfully, "the pirate actually looked like a respectable person in it." She grumbled for a minute then added, "She even looked better than me." It seemed impossible to her, but Ryoko actually looked regal, and important in that robe, almost like it was made for her.

Just a few hours ago the three of them had shared their darkest secrets, she told them how she felt tortured by her mother's antics. But what Tenchi said had shocked them both. She still felt horrible for the way she had acted since coming here. Every day the way she fought with Ryoko caused him to be tortured, him, the one she loved, she tortured every day. Desperately she wished she could go back and change the past, but that was not possible. What they had done to him had been done and could not be changed. "Thank Tsunami it all turned out ok," she told herself. But she could not help but think, "Is everything really ok now?"

"Tenchi and Ryoko loved each other; Ryoko brought Washu back to the family. And Sasami..." She looked over at where her sister lay, the faint glow of the runes on her forehead illuminated part of the room. "She's connected to Tsunami and even now dreams things that she will not remember." Her sister had come to bed long ago. After Ayeka had lain awake for several hours, she ventured downstairs when she heard talking.

Washu had come back and she, Ryoko and Tenchi were downstairs talking while the princess lurked in the shadows upstairs. She wanted to go down and welcome her back, but they were having a family moment then. "A family moment," she said again smiling. She had lost him to her, but she was still surprised that not only had it happened, but that she was happy for them. She had nearly started laughing when Ryoko had told Tenchi that she could wait a month before having his child. His face was shown in her mind and she imagined him being very red and embarrassed. But she was not upset over it, not like she was last time her friend had mentioned having his child.

Sighing again she asked herself the question that had been plaguing her mind for hours, "now what?" Should she return to Jurai or stay here? "If I returned to Jurai that would put Sasami in a bad spot as she would want to stay here, but then again she would not want to be left behind. And if I should stay then what would I do, or be? On earth Tenchi can have only one wife which would be her, that and I would not want to miss their wedding." Some of her thoughts were surprising to her as she was now mentally picturing Ryoko's marriage to Tenchi. She went so far as to imagine Ryoko wearing the kimono that she was supposed to wear when her and Yosho were to be wed.

Ayeka finally smiled happily as she pictured her friend wearing her own Juraian wedding kimono. She hated to admit it but Ryoko would look lovely in it. After what had been, several hours of thinking Ayeka finally drifted off to sleep thinking of Tenchi's & Ryoko's Wedding and how she would help them with it.

The next morning the elder princess woke before everyone including her sister, and so seizing the opportunity she began opening every container she had searching for the right one. She had been able to get a fair amount of her things off her ship but she was still missing a lot. She hoped that this would be one of those things that remained, and was still in good condition. Ayeka barely noticed when Sasami awoke and went to prepare breakfast. In her search she did not even notice the smells of breakfast or even that she was being called to breakfast.

Since he had chosen it troubled her that the time she had left here might be cut short, so she had to get this done before she had to go. It was both heart breaking and a joy of the heart at the same time as she searched for it. This one last vestige that was left to remind her of who she was and it stood as a symbol of a love she was destined to not experience. Regardless of the fact she may never wear it herself she was determined to have her rival, her friend wear it.

She was pulled away from her search when she heard Ryoko's voice, "Um, Ayeka?" The princess turned around to see the pirate. "Breakfast is ready? Were you coming down?" Ayeka looked at Ryoko carefully as she spoke and she found it interesting that it had been her sent to tell her about breakfast.

Ayeka then got an interesting idea, "Ryoko, would you be able to help me with something?"

"Um, sure, but later ok? Everyone's waiting for you."

"Oh, ok. But after breakfast will you help me?" Ryoko relented and the two of them went down to breakfast. Breakfast itself progressed much like it had in the past with one major difference. Ayeka never made one comment about Ryoko sitting so close to Tenchi or her holding him. In fact, Ayeka was so caught up in her thoughts that she barely noticed that breakfast was over.

"Hay Princess?" Ryoko's voice called.

"Huh, oh." She looked around to notice that everyone else had left but Ryoko.

"Ok, spill it, what's on your mind?" Ayeka looked over to see that her friend sitting there with her arms crossed drumming her fingers on her arms.

"I need you to help me find something. It was in my ship when it crashed and it is very special. But I have only realized recently that it was missing."

"What? How could it be so special and you just now noticed it?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain Miss Ryoko, but I would appreciate your help." Ayeka looked at Ryoko and silently she hoped that Ryoko would help her without asking too much about what it is.

Finally the pirate relented, "Ok, I'll help. What's it look like?"

The princess jumped up happily, "Oh thank you!" Taking Ryoko by the arm she proceeded to go to the lake with a confused pirate in tow. Finally arriving at the spot where her ship crashed what feels like ages ago she stopped and let go of Ryoko's arm. "Ok, it is a fairly large container. Made of wood, and circular..."

"Oh like that stuff in your room?"

"Yes but how did you... Oh never mind about that part. But yes like those but a little larger." She went on to describe it and the markings on it to make sure there were no mistaking it. When she had finally described almost every detail except which way the wood grain was going Ryoko spoke up.

"Ok, Ok. I'll get it," Ryoko told her before stepping out over the water. Ayeka watched as her friend walked out on the water and she was filled with a sense that this had happened before. Ryoko did not need to breathe air like most people so she was in Ayeka's eyes best suited for this, not to mention her ability to phase through things.

The princess paced back and forth by the water anxiously waiting for her friend to return, and it seemed to her to take too long. Soon she began wondering if she had run into trouble or had gotten stuck. The unthinkable then entered her mind shortly afterwards, "Oh no. What if it was destroyed in the crash? What will I do? Oh, I hope it's ok, it's been down there a long time. It..." her thoughts were sidetracked as an object popped up out of the water followed shortly by Ryoko. The container was easily as tall as Ryoko was but she held it aloft like it was much smaller.

"Hay is this it?"

"Yes! Thank you! Can you help me get it to my room please?"

"Sure why not," she said then landing beside Ayeka she took her hand and teleported the both of them and the container to the princesses' room. Once inside the princess began drying the outside of the container as Ryoko just watched her. Slowly Ayeka dried off the exterior while checking for cracks or damage to the case itself. She sighed of relief when she discovered that there was no damage done to the unit itself.

Ryoko watched with interest as Ayeka cared for this like it was a long lost treasure, but the one thing that surprised her was that Ayeka had never mentioned it before. "So, Ayeka. What's so special about this?"

"Oh, this is very special." She paused for a moment then pressed her hand into the center of it. The symbol in the center glowed and then a line formed from the top to the bottom. Ryoko watched as the unit parted along the line and she was amazed at how it opened along a seam that did not exist a moment ago.

Ryoko let out a gasp as the door opened fully and she saw the gown that was held in it. It was a long white Kimono that seemed to be made of a fabric she had never seen before. "What, what is it?"

"It's a formal kimono that is used on only one occasion. Queens of Jurai have worn this for the past several millenniums. It was to be mine to wear on one special day." Ayeka turned to look at Ryoko, "I had hoped to wear this on my wedding day with Tenchi." She looked at the pirate, her friend, "Though it will be worn on the day he gets married, but I will not be the one to wear it."

Ryoko tried to speak, and when she finally did her voice was shaky as surely she could not mean that, "What are you saying?"

Taking a shaky breath herself, Ayeka took Ryoko's hand and pulled her closer to the container. "I want you to wear this when you wed him."

"Ayeka, I, I can't. This is too good, it's..." her voice caught in her throat as she comprehended what this meant to Ayeka and what she was doing. Ayeka just stifled her protests by gently retrieving it from the container.

Holding it out to Ryoko, she told her, "Try it on." There were no words Ryoko knew to say to thank her for this. Slowly she took it from Ayeka and examined it closely. The fabric was much softer than she had at first thought, and it looked even better than her favorite dress. Ayeka closed and locked the door to prevent anyone from stepping in as Ryoko fumbled with it. Ayeka returned to her friend the demon caller, and helped her put it on.

When it was wrapped around her friend Ayeka stepped back to look. In all her life the Demon, the pirate Ryoko was a thing hideous to look at and monstrous enough to destroy men by sight alone. Now that Ryoko seemed to not exist as the Ryoko before her was a friend, one whom she felt comfortable around. And she was sure that this Ryoko would not destroy anything more than the shyness that Tenchi had. But one thing was sure; he will not be the same after seeing her like this.

"It looks like it was made for you." She said to her friend. It seemed strange that just a few days ago she had tried to kill her, and now she was giving this most precious thing to her. What made no sense to her at this moment was how well it fit her friend without alterations. Ryoko looked at herself in the mirror that hung on the container's doors and she was amazed at how good she looked.

Both girls jumped when a knock was heard at the door. "May I some in?" Came the voice on the other side. Ryoko immediately recognized it as her mothers' voice in her adult form. "No one is with me." Ryoko just nodded and stepped behind the container as Ayeka opened the door.

"Do come in Miss Washu." She said as she gestured for the now adult Washu to enter. Once inside Ayeka promptly shut the door and locked it again.

"Ryoko," her mother called softly, "I, was getting some strange emotions from you and saw a brief glimpse of you in..." Her voice trailed off as Ryoko stepped around into view. Washu was amazed at how beautiful her daughter looked. "Wow, where, how..." her mind was running faster than her ability to speak her questions but it was not Ryoko but Ayeka that answered them fully.

"Miss Washu, this is a wedding dress that has been in my family for a long time and it has been worn only on weddings. Since Ryoko and Tenchi are," she paused to consider her words carefully; "since they love each other I have decided that Miss Ryoko here should wear this dress at her wedding to him."

Washu was to say the least, surprised, "But, they haven't even discussed this yet? Why so soon?"

"Do you think he will not ask?" Washu considered Ayeka's question and considering the past few days it is entirely possible that he will.

"Well he might ask, but aren't you jumping the gun here a little? It's not even been two days since he choose and..." She stopped as Ayeka held up her hand.

"Need I remind you that he has chosen and since he has chosen it will not be long before my family finds out." She looked at Washu who just shrugged as if to ask 'so what?' "When they discover that they will undoubtedly come back for us and I may be forced to leave with them."

Ryoko suddenly burst out, "No! You can't!"

"I am sorry but it may happen. But I would like to see your wedding before I leave. So I am sure that with the three of us we can find a way to get him to ask." She raised her eyebrow at them hoping they would catch on to what she was meaning. Both mother and daughter snickered and grinned evilly as she had hoped, and they began making plans as to how they would get him to ask.

Ryoko suddenly stood up straight and blushed, causing the others to look at her curiously. Ayeka watched as she furrowed her brow a moment then giggled. Both Ayeka and Washu stared at her for a moment wondering, and then Washu caught on. Leaning over to Ayeka she whispered, "We may not have to be very sneaky." Ayeka raised an eyebrow in question. I knew she was here because she was transmitting some strange emotions and images across our mental link. So, she's either talking to Ryo-Ohki or Tenchi now."

Ayeka's eyes widened and looking back at Ryoko and seeing her blushing she knew the truth, "It must be Tenchi then." Washu nodded in agreement. It did not take long for whatever Ryoko was saying to him to actually say it, but it did take a while for her to regain her control over her blushing. "I take it that all is well with Lord Tenchi?"

At just the mention of his name, Ryoko began to blush again, this time harder. Ayeka and Washu exchanged knowing looks then returned their attention to the blushing Ryoko. "Just think little Ryoko soon you just may be a blushing bride!" Her mother cackled as Ryoko blushed anew right after her blush had gone away. Ayeka laughed as well and then the two, scientist and princess, helped the ex-pirate out of the wedding kimono.

Once she was back to her normal clothes Ayeka took her to the onsen for a soak and a small celebration, even if it was a little pre-mature to celebrate Ryoko's engagement. In the onsen she was able to get Ryoko, after much goading, to tell her what had happened earlier when she was talking to Tenchi. "Well," Ryoko started to explain then blushed. Such behavior Ayeka had seldom seen and she guessed it must have been Zero's influence. It was shortly after they merged that Ayeka and Washu had teased Ryoko about Tenchi coming home early, and to Ayeka's surprise the pirate had run out of the house blushing.

Looking at the pirate again Ayeka waited patiently for her to answer, "Well Washu showed up because she saw my reflection in the mirror for a brief moment, and was feeling what I was. Tenchi," she paused to blush then continued. "He also saw a brief image and was feeling what I was for a moment, then…"

"Yes then?" Ayeka leaned in to hear this, and she had a brief thought that if a groom is not supposed to see his bride in her wedding dress before the wedding does that mean that it would be ok since they are not even engaged yet?

"Well he was training with Katsuhito at the time and he paused for too long." Her voice fell and Ayeka could already guess the rest and she tried to hide her amusement. "And he knocked him out cold for a while." The princess could not hold it and she began to laugh, first just a little tittering then a full blown laugh even though such a thing was not at all proper. Ryoko just watched the princess dissolve in laughter, she had to admit that it was funny too, and before she knew it, they were both laughing.

They did not have to wait long or even have to really try to convince him to propose. He proposed to Ryoko just two days later. It seems that the brief mental picture he got from her and a shared dream between had him ready to ask before they were able to start even their first plan. What surprised Ayeka though was when he proposed to her too just a few days later.

"But Lord Tenchi, why?"

"Ryoko and I have talked it over and she knows that I still care for you too. So she asked me to at least talk to you about it."

"Lord Tenchi, I'm honored, I..." She was not sure how to tell him what she was feeling. She wanted this, but something was bothering her about it. "Which one would be married to you first?"

This threw him for a loop, she had not said yes, but instead was asking this. "Um, Ryoko. I asked her first."

"So you love her more?"

"Well, I, you see..."

"I do see. You love her more and you asked her first. So you will spend more time with her, right?"

"I, I..." This was not going the way he had hoped it would. And he could not understand how she could sound so cold about it after her and Ryoko had been getting along so well.

"Can you imagine every night us trying to find out who you will be spending it with? If I wanted to spend time with you alone would you send her away?"

"I, don't think I can do that. I would never send either of you away."

"Then don't you see, it would be no different than the way it was. Both of us wanting to be loved more. You would have to send one or the other away each night."

"But couldn't we, um..." His mind froze as it realized what he was about to ask.

"Share? As in all three of us in one bed?" He nodded, as she somehow had spoken what he couldn't. "I'm sorry, but though she is a friend I don't think I can do that." She then considered something that even she did not like to think about, but if he was serious, it had to be out in the open. Looking at him carefully, she asked. "Do you really think that Jurai would welcome her with open arms?"

His head shot up and his eyes locked with hers, 'What do you mean?"

"She destroyed Jurai, and..."

"But that wasn't her fault! Kagato did it!"

"Do you think they care? I've talked to my mothers and if you married her then there may be a revolt or several attempts made on her or your lives." He gulped audibly as she spoke in such a coldhearted way. "I've given it much thought and since you've asked her to marry you, then you and her had better stay on earth." This was not entirely true on her part, she had only thought of it once before when Funaho had mentioned it.

"But..."

"But what?" she looked at him sternly, and he could see a hidden concern for both of their lives. She kept it hidden, but it was there. "I cannot stay on earth if that's what you want to know. I have to go back, it's where I belong."

"You belong with your family."

She looked at him and her face and eyes softened. "I know, I also know that I have a responsibility to Jurai, to be there. Should I throw away my responsibility, my crown, and who I am?"

Looking at the floor, he responded weakly, "No."

"Then you see, I have to return, but if you return with me with Ryoko as well then it will cause more harm than good."

He understood what this meant, she was telling him no, but doing it in a way to make it all seem logical and right. He could not ask her to stay, and yet he could not ask Ryoko to go back to the planet she destroyed. Even if Kagato was the one to blame, it was still done at her hands. This also meant that his family would be eventually separated, but he did not know when. 'Damn her logic,' he thought bitterly, but then again he understood it as well. He had thought before when he learned who he was that he might have to go to Jurai, but that was not where he felt he should go.

Ayeka though was not sure she should be happy that he asked or insulted. It was Ryoko that had pushed him to ask, so did that mean that he didn't really want to? She tried hard to believe in what she had said, though she felt an emptiness grow inside her. Strangely, it did not feel as bad as she thought she should. 'Does that mean I really didn't love him? No, I did love him, but that was too easy.' She watched as he walked out of her room. 'I should be crying now, I shouldn't be able to just tell him no. Should I?'

As the days passed it became easier and easier to deal with almost anything, the one thing she really did not want to face at this moment was leaving earth, leaving her friends behind. She had already decided that when she leaves she will let Sasami stay behind for a time, but then she too will have to return to Jurai. It was not how she wanted it, she wanted to return under happier times, but unfortunately, this could not be avoided now. She did everything she could though to make the most of her time left.

To make sure things were arranged properly she had gone to Washu and had used a sub-space radio to call home and inform her mother of what has happened. Misaki at first has been shocked and a little angry that he had turned down Ayeka. At least until her daughter told her about the conversion she had with Tenchi. "Are you sure about this?" Her mother had asked.

"Yes, yes I am. I think I care for him… Should it have been so easy to tell him no if I really loved him?"

Her mother thought about this and finally answered, "No, I was crushed when your father put off our wedding until after Funaho's. But I loved him so much at the time I said I would wait. He made my wait well worth it and for a while it was hard on him, as we both seemed to want all of his attention. But we finally understood that he loved us both so we adjusted to it." She began laughing and blushing as a thought crossed her mind, but even after her daughter asked her about, a few times she refused to tell her what she was laughing about. She only said, "Someday you may understand."

"What about father? I don't really care for that boy he brought here. Can I choose my own husband?"

Her mother stopped laughing and looked at her, "That may be hard to do, but we can talk to him, but what about Sasami? Will she be coming home too?"

"Not right now. She will later. I don't want to rip her away from the only other family she has known." She could tell her mother was not entirely pleased but she understood at least.

"Ok, we can adjust to that. But she will have to come back eventually."

"I know. Oh and Mommy…" She knew she had butter her mother up for this next one so she made sure to caller what she loved to be called and in that special voice.

"Yes Ayeka?"

"I gave Ryoko my dress for her wedding." There was silence on the other end as Misaki just stared blankly at her. Her mouth was hanging open slightly and here eyes were just a little larger than she remembered them ever getting. "She's marrying a prince so she needed a special dress, so I gave her mine. So I have to come back to see her in it, she's asked me to be the maid of honor!"

"You what? She what? You're going to be what?"

She did not like this; her mother usually is not this distant sounding. "Mommy, she's my friend, and I wanted her wedding to be special. It was the only thing I could think of to do to let her know that not all of Jurai still hates her."

Misaki's eyes began to tear up as she realized what her little Ayeka was doing. "I, I think that will be fine… Though, only the three of us should come back for the wedding. When will it be held?" She talked to her mother for what seemed like hours telling her about it wedding and when it was to be held. She was saddened a little to know that she would have to return to Jurai for a short time before the wedding, but her mother promised that she would make it back in time for the wedding. 

When the time came just a few months later it was a teary affair as Sasami, Ryo-Ohki, Mihoshi, and even Ryoko asked her to not go. All of them cried, some more so than others did and Ayeka did everything she could to keep from crying in front of them. Thankfully only Misaki and Funaho had shown up, to take Ayeka home. It was not know how she had got Sasami to stay though Ryoko had her guesses.

The princess and the pirate had spent their time actually getting to be friends and fighting between them was a rarity now, instead of the norm. Tenchi was glad of this change, as patching the holes in the walls from their fighting was getting to be a pain.

"Are you sure you won't say?" Ryoko asked the princess.

"I'm sure, but I'll be back in time for the wedding, you can't have it without me."

"Of coarse not, someone has to be the old maid."

Laughingly she corrected the pirate, "That's Maid of honor."

"Yea whatever," she replied grinning before giving the princess one last hug.

To Ayeka, it seemed strange now how they seemed to insult each other for fun where as before she practically hated her before. 'It must have been seeing how he held Zero,' she mused as she wondered when she had really given up on him. Back when Ryoko had been kidnapped, Ayeka had willingly gone to rescue her, and when Zero had been hurt, she was forced to see just how he felt about Ryoko. Back then he held her gently and close like he never wanted it to end. The tone of his voice had been so warm and soothing. It was so bad that she could not even watch, as during the whole time she faced away from them with clench fists. Since that day she tried for his affections, just not as hard as before.

When it came time to say good bye to Tenchi, she asked him one question quietly by whispering it in his ear. "Could you have really loved me like her?" He could not answer, and that in itself was her answer. "I thought not. Goodbye Tenchi." She then kissed his cheek and left with her mother's amidst her sisters and Mihoshi's crying.


	4. Ryo-Ohki, Person or Pet?

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Ryo-Ohki, Person or Pet?

This is a continuation of "Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending." This takes place over a year after "Ayeka's Decision.". I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me.

*****

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Ryo-Ohki, Person or Pet?

Ryo-Ohki stood in her room looking at the reflection, of a young woman, in the mirror that adorned the door of her closet. Though, she now looked like she was in her late teens or early twenties she was in fact more than a few thousand years old. To the casual observer it would appear as though she was having a staring contest with herself, but in fact, she was deep in thought and her reflection simply gave her something to look at. 'What am I?' That seemingly small question had been plaguing her thoughts for longer than she really cared to think about. For nearly five thousand years, she was the demon ship Ryo-Ohki that plagued the nightmares of many, until one fateful day when she and her mistress, Ryoko, lost their last battle.

They had invaded and destroyed most of Jurai under the influence of Kagato and somehow Yosho and his space tree Funaho had not only stopped them but also pushed them back. That was the turning point of their lives. From that moment, they had been doomed to loose battle after battle as the two Jurains chased them across space until they crashed on Earth. Here over seven hundred years ago her original form had been destroyed and in the resulting crash had caused a huge crater. It was hard to tell if her mistress fared worse or better as she was defeated and was imprisoned.

Then three years ago a young man by the name of Tenchi had released her mistress who then woke her up and reunited they took to the skies. But again they were forced to crash land on earth. This time the damage was too severe, so she had to be reborn. The process was painless, but it left her with only fragmented memories of her former life, but that was one thing she was glad of. In the first year of her rebirth she had come to know and care for many more people than she had ever cared for in the past five thousand. She cared for one enough to become this thing that she was now. Looking back at her mirror she admired the form she was in now. Human was what she was called, more aptly a female human.

After acquiring this form to save the life of Tenchi, she soon began to wonder what was she really, as she was a cabbit, a battleship and now a woman. Sasami had treated her like a person first, while the others though saw her as a cute pet or an imitation of a human. Much like a parrot can imitate a person's voice, she was imitating a person's body. It did not help that she could not talk completely normal either. The little princess had worked with her for many days and weeks trying to teach her how to talk, but many words and syllables were impossible for her to say. Sasami had great success though in teaching the now human form of Ryo-Ohki how to read and write, as with human hands she had finer control of things like pens.

As she thought of Sasami, she turned her head to look out the window up at the stars. 'She's out there somewhere,' she thought to herself. Her mind drifted back to the day that changed all of their lives forever, as it was the day that Tenchi had finally chosen. Not to her surprise, he had chosen Ryoko. It did not surprise her as she had seen how he looked at the ex-pirate and her mistress. 

Several months after he chose Ryoko the princess Ayeka had returned to her home on Jurai. Ryo-Ohki moved towards her bed and turned on some music as she lamented about the past. As the song played, she hummed along as well. She had found that the music relaxed her or got her moving depending on the style and beat of it. While Sasami had taught her how to read and write she had still wanted to talk to her friends, so going to Washu one night she had explained to the scientist that she wanted to speak.

This act alone took several hours of her trying to sound out her frustration before finally writing down what she wanted. While she shared a mental link with Ryoko and it would have been easy to get Ryoko to talk for her, she was busy enjoying married life so Ryo-Ohki had to do this alone. She smiled remembering the wedding, Ayeka had come back specifically for that one purpose and a small service was held with just his earth family and friends. It had been a happy occasion and she had felt the happiness from both him and her. Ryoko had been happy just having his love, but to be married to him fulfilled every dream she had ever had that not only would someone love her, but choose to spend their live with her. She had not had the longing for that before Kagato, but since all of the killing and destruction she witnessed she did not believe it was possible to be loved like that.

Tenchi's grandfather had performed some of the wedding, and while Ryo-Ohki found it ironic that the very one that imprisoned her was now doing this, Ryoko on the other had barely even gave it a thought as all of her thoughts were on Tenchi. After the wedding at the reception she heard Mihoshi singing a song to her friends and that was when Ryo-Ohki had really started working hard on learning how to speak. Placing a hand on her throat she sang softly to the music as it played. In the back of her mind, she thanked Washu yet again for the operation that had given Ryo-Ohki her voice and more importantly her ability to sing. Since gaining the ability to speak Mihoshi had taken her out to several kareoki places and taught her a lot about singing. Surprisingly the blonde knew a lot about it and had been more than eager to explain it all. And ever since then, Ryo-Ohki would only go around in her human form of a young woman.

For nearly a year, after Ayeka left she split her time between Sasami and Mihoshi. Sasami taught her how to dress, eat properly and cook simple meals as well as helping her learn other things that she did from the earth schools. Mihoshi though taught her how to have fun and enjoy life with things such as singing and dancing. Although neither had ever danced before the blonde had somehow dragged her to a club where they both danced until the place closed. She found though that she could only talk when in her human form, in her cabbit or spaceship form she was back to sounding like a cat, so she rarely used either of those forms anymore.

Her eyes glanced across the room as she saw several posters of various music groups that she liked as well as pictures of her family. This room for the first year that she spent with them had been the princesses' room. Ayeka had left for a while and came back, but her return was only for the wedding, then she was gone again. Sasami had used this for her room for a time after that until she had to return to Jurai too. The room was passed down to her as she used her human form exclusively by then and Tenchi's father did not think it was right to have her sleeping on the couch. Mihoshi had her own room just a little further down as well, though she did not get to keep it for more then a few months. And then it happened, Mihoshi had to leave as well. This left Ryo-Ohki alone, as those that she spent time with the most and learned the most from were now gone. Ayeka, Sasami and now Mihoshi had left the earth. This left only Tenchi, his grandfather, father, Washu and Ryoko.

The past three months have been hard on her as her best friends have now left. She had wanted to go out to sing or dance, but Ryoko had never really enjoyed going without him, and he was always busy at home. Though she was lonely, she laughed a little as she remembered Ryoko trying to cook for them. The first few attempts had been near disastrous until she had decided to try just simple dishes. After Washu had done a simple operation and gave Ryoko back her sense of taste the meals improved slightly. Ryoko then decided to take a few cooking classes and then the nights meals improved even more.

But still Ryo-Ohki was sad, and the radio was playing a slow sad love song. She switched the station and then several more times, as every station seemed to want to torture her more with songs of love. Sadly, her eyes looked back at the mirror. "What am I?" Her reflection refused to answer though. She was not a human or even an animal any more. To make matters worse she could feel Ryoko's feelings running through her mind and it made her long to have them as well. She wanted someone to love to hold at night too. But no other cabbit out there could understand her emotions or feelings. They just could not understand her any more just as she could not understand them. But she also was not a human either, as how could she tell her boyfriend that she was also a furry little creature or a battle ship? "It's just not fair."

Lying down in her bed, she did her best to tune out the feelings drifting through her that belonged to Ryoko and not herself. Though she cared for them greatly, she did not want to feel any more. Ryoko usually kept a barrier of sorts in place that kept this sort of thing from happening, but there were still times when the barrier would fall and Ryo-Ohki had to fight to keep her own barriers up. And for still another night, she fought them off so that she could hopefully get some rest. But she knew that she could not keep this up forever, so tonight like many nights before she thought of a way to handle this. Should she leave or should she have Washu turn her back to a cabbit permanently. Though the second idea was more appealing, she did not want to loose her ability to sing, talk or read. These simple pleasures had kept her going for this long, so maybe they could keep her going for a little longer. 

The days seemed to drag by almost painfully slow as Tenchi was back at school again. He had started going to college at one of the major universities to follow in his fathers footsteps for now, and to make it easy on Ryoko and him, Washu had created a portal that connected his dorm room with the closet in his room. This way he could go to school all day and spend his nights with Ryoko at home or there. For her part, Ryoko had also enrolled in some more cooking classes to learn a variety of new foods so she was gone for most of the day as well. Although Washu was technically there, she rarely left her lab, which meant that Ryo-Ohki was home alone. She used this time to work on the garden in Tenchi's place as he had showed her long ago how to care for her own garden. And now that he was not home as much it was up to her to care for it.

They had all been surprised when not only did she plant more than carrots, but also a variety of vegetables as well. She kept the vegetable garden tended even better than he did, and she even had a flower garden closer to the house. She spent a lot of time working on both of her gardens, as this time she used to think of what to do, but she had never been able to come up with anything other than asking him what he saw her as. 'That's stupid,' she chided herself, 'Imagine asking him what he thought I was. He'd say something stupid or tell me to talk to Washu.' She scoffed as she worked, how he would not be able to answer her question any better than she could, but it annoyed her to find out that she wanted to know so badly, 'what does he think of me?' A smile crossed her lips though as she remembered that it was his view on Ryoko, which caused her mistress to do a complete turn around.

Ryoko had been a wild and flirtatious space pirate that tried to seduce him at every turn until he told her what she meant to him. At that point Ryoko no longer felt the need to throw herself at him and she had even started doing chores willingly and not having to be told several times. She grimaced as she thought of asking her old mistress about her current dilemma, 'She'd have no clue what to say. These type of things she had always tried to avoid talking about.' So, instead of asking she let this tear away at her from the inside out, slowly eating away at her happiness.

Day in and out she continued to wonder what she was and what she was going to do now. She had a crush on him at the time and she had assumed this form to save him, but since then, he had chosen another it all seemed so pointless now. Ryo-Ohki had been able to spend her days in her gardens where she sang softly as she worked, and though it helped her cope with her loneliness it was of little comfort at night. During the weekdays like today Tenchi and Ryoko stayed on the campus and would come home only on weekends or when they had extra time. His father also had an apartment in town as well and he stayed there during the weekdays, as it was too much of a distance to travel from the country to the city. This left only Washu, Yosho and Ryo-Ohki at home during the weekdays alone. Washu spent most of her time in her lab and rarely came out except for meals, and Yosho kept busy in the shrine as normal.

Today Ryo-Ohki had an idea, for something to help pass her time here. After finishing her chores in the field, she went up to the shrine to see Yosho. He was busy with a visitor so she walked around the shrine looking over the training grounds. With having been part cat and part rabbit, her senses had been augmented to allow for better hearing and sight. So, when she heard him approaching from behind her she did not act surprised. "Morning Yosho."

"Morning Ryo-Ohki. What are you doing up here today?"

"I was wondering sir," she looked down and then she looked back up into his face. "Would you train me?"

"Train you?"

"Yes sir, I know how to use energy beams, but I have never had to fight as a human before."

"I see, well very well. I don't believe you have had a chance to do any fighting like this, so we should start with the basics. Tenchi should have an extra set of training clothes, or Washu could provide you with some."

She chuckled and answered, "I think Washu would have a better suit for me." After talking to him some more about what she would need and be expected to do, she went to talk to Washu about more clothes. 'She's bound to be getting tired of me asking for clothes,' she thought. Unlike Ryoko, she could not just phase into whatever she wanted to wear so she had to have a complete wardrobe or walk around in the nude. After Sasami had talked to her about modesty, it was decided that more clothes were needed. Washu had provided some and Nobuyuki had taken her and Ryoko into town once for shopping as well. They had come back with more bags of clothes that he had thought they would. He grumbled saying that he would have to work about a week's worth of overtime to pay off the card, but Washu had taken care of that problem for him.

Walking into the lab she called out, "Little Washu?"

"Yes Ryo-Ohki?" Turning around the girl could see the scientist working away at her computer.

"I was wondering if you could make me some training clothes?"

She stopped what she was doing and spun around, "Some what?"

"Some training clothes. I have asked Katsuhito to train me on how to fight like a human since it is one of my forms now."

The scientist scowled at her, "You know that you don't have to call it that, but yes I can make you some. I've taught you how to fight as a ship and how to defend yourself as a cabbit. Although she may not remember it, I even taught Ryoko how to fight. But I think you're old enough to decide who you want to train you." Her shoulders slumped and though the girl started to feel guilty or sorry for asking she had really wanted to learn.

"Little Washu, I, it's not," she growled at herself for not being able to answer. "No disrespect little Washu but he has more time and he did beat us both once before."

Jumping off her pillow and taking her adult form Washu pointed a finger at Ryo-Ohki. "Look here! I had only started training you both before he took you away. I bet you would've flown circles around him if I could have completed your training!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it!" Tears started forming in her eyes as she saw the pain and hurt in Washu's eyes.

Seeing Ryo-Ohki now crying Washu put her arms around her and tried to sooth away the hurt. "I'm sorry." Ryo-Ohki froze as she heard Washu apologize. "I shouldn't have take in out on you. You can train with him, but it you want some of the finer points you can come to me alright?" She didn't know what to say, not only had she apologized, but also had even given her permission. Pulling away from her a little Washu gazed at Ryo-Ohki, "I wish that I could have seen the future and had made better decisions or I could have prepared you better for this. I just wish," she paused to take a ragged breath and Ryo-Ohki realized that Washu had been crying. "I just wish you could call me mom and not your creator."

Not once could she remember Washu actually apologizing and the sincere tone made her really wonder if Washu really meant what she just said. These types of feelings and emotions were new to her and she was having trouble working through them, so she did the first thing that came to mind. She hugged the scientist back. "I, I think I would have liked calling you mom." She then held Washu for several moments as the redhead seemed to be overwhelmed for the moment.

It was some time later that she emerged from the lab after her encounter with Washu. She knew that for Washu to have cried over this, and then to apologize, she must be having a difficult time as well. The last statement that the scientist had made though had stayed on her mind. It had been some time after Tenchi proposed to Ryoko and shortly before Ayeka had left that Ryoko had called Washu mom for the first time and really meant it. The sheer amount of raw emotions that she had felt as Ryoko called her that and truly meant it had nearly left Ryo-Ohki too stunned to see Washu's reaction.

Suddenly Ryo-Ohki stopped in her tracks as she remembered that day. Ryoko had been talking to Tenchi about his mom and after he told her, "I wish I could tell my mom I was sorry for hurting her. Please, don't make my mistake, you still have a mom." She remembered several of the thoughts that Ryoko had transmitted unconsciously to her. It was her memories of him when he was little. Playing outside the cave she could see a little boy, first with what could have been his mother and then with his grandmother and then him again crying for them. Ryo-Ohki had felt so sorry for him and the amount of pain that he was must have been feeling, but she did not know what to do to help.

Ryoko took a few moments to think before going to talk to Washu. The reunion had been a teary one that had introduced Ryo-Ohki to a number of new emotions and feelings, but finally seeing mother and daughter hugging like that had made her feel sad and a bit envious. She did not have a mother, or a family, at least till now. Now she did have a family, people that cared for her, but she was still without a mother.

Shaking off her feelings for now she looked outside and noticed it was getting near dark. Soon Nobuyuki and Katsuhito would be arriving and she had not even started on dinner. She ran to the kitchen and looking around frantically she found a few frozen foods that she could fix quickly. She had not taken the time that Ryoko did to learn how to cook so she mainly had to rely on warming up leftovers or frozen foods; but then again, she thought they were just as good. The two men had thought so too and had praised her for the meals several times. Nobuyuki had always liked having a meal waiting for him at home, though it routinely reminded him of something painful that he never spoke about to anyone. While in town he had to survive on his own, so on the weekends she had tried to make sure he did not have to worry about cooking at least.

While fixing dinner Ryo-Ohki thought about what could it be that caused him that kind of pain, and why would he not tell her about it? She had seen how after Tenchi had chosen Ryoko to be his wife his father had calmed down a lot, though he still pressured Tenchi about grandchildren. One thing that she had found surprising though was that after Ayeka had left several other members of the house hold had changed as well. Nobuyuki mellowed out and was easier to talk to Ryo-Ohki guessed, as he and Mihoshi seemed to enjoy talking. She had come down to the kitchen late one night for a snack and had caught both Mihoshi and him on the couch having a long conversation. It was then that she had noticed a change in the blonde.

Up to the point that Tenchi had chosen, Mihoshi had been the loveable ditz that seemed to break things and in general make a large mess. But that day Mihoshi had changed. Something had seemed to shatter in her that nearly destroyed her. She had covered it up though for some time, but along the way, she had seemingly fallen apart and he was there to help. Shrugging her shoulders, she pushed thoughts of her friend away as it was causing her to feel sad as well. Mihoshi had been to one to teach her how to sing and dance, but since that last night that Mihoshi had been here, she had not gone back out to sing or dance. It was as if she was empty inside again.

After she mixed the contents of a package into a bowl that was on the stove she collected some of the trash and took it out to beside the house. Out there by the shed Washu had made a device that they could put trash in and it would dispose of it. However Washu had never trusted anyone with it as it could easily destroy something that could not be replaced, so she kept the ability to turn it on to herself. Opening the lid to drop the bag in she noticed a number of books and things in there. Looking closer, she discovered that it was some of Nobuyuki's books, those that he kept hidden from everyone. 'I wonder why it's out here?'

Depositing the bag in there she returned to the kitchen then as curiosity got the better of her she went to his library where he kept all of his 'naughty books' as Sasami had called them. She was surprised to discover that they had almost all been removed, and replaced with comics and other books that were no where near what he used to keep. She had stumbled in on this place as she and Sasami had been playing hide and seek one day. And at the time, many of the books had graphic pictures on the covers and when Sasami and Ryoko had found her, they too had been shocked. She almost started a laughing fit as she remembered how embarrassed even Ryoko was about just some of the covers, let alone what was in them.

This though brought about a question, 'Why was he getting rid of them now?' But what did not make sense was that there was only a small amount of books in the trash, and to have gotten rid of that many he would have had to be throwing some away each week for the past year! 'But why?' Pushing those thoughts out of her head she finished up the dinners and set the table for her family, just three places tonight as Tenchi and Ryoko were going to be going out to eat tonight and would not be back till tomorrow. Saturdays and Sundays where her favorite times as most of her family was back home for those two days. Glancing over at the calendar she sighed, tomorrow they would be home. If only the rest of her family could come back as well, but she's given up on wishing for them to come back.

Dinner came and went as expected, Nobuyuki was late and Yosho said very little while Washu stayed buried in her work. Surrounded by people she never felt so lonely, but she had never really experienced this type of thing until people started leaving. First Ayeka, then Sasami and Mihoshi, and now Tenchi and Ryoko were gone as well. Every day that they spent away, the time seemed to pass by slower, but somehow, she made it from day to day, and from week to week. The thing that kept her going was the weekends like tomorrow when at least Tenchi and Ryoko would be back. She wondered about talking to them, but when and what would she say?

His father helped her with putting the dished away and he too seemed even more despondent. Since all the girls left he seemed to have calmed down a lot and she had to admit that the times she had come out of the shower with only a towel on he didn't try to stare at her or look at her like he did the others. 'Maybe it's cause I'm just a pet, and animal with a human's body. Maybe that's why.' She shook the thought out of her head just as fast as it entered. 'Why would I want him to do that, and besides, it could be because he's changing. He was throwing away all of his old books.'

When she heard him sigh and look up at the stars, she knew something was on his mind. "Are you ok?"

"Huh? Oh yea. I just…" his voice trailed off as his thoughts seemed to be elsewhere.

"You miss the others, don't you?"

He turned to her, and he just nodded. "It seems strange that after all that has happened. But I miss… them."

She could have sworn he had started to say a name then changed it, but he did not actually voice a name other than possibly in his head. 'He must miss his wife,' she thought, then wondered how hard it must be to continue living without the one you love. "I miss them too," she said in an effort to get her mind off its current track.

"Do you think she, um, they will come back?" He continued to look at the dish he was holding and trying to hide his mistake, though he should have known better as her hearing was much better than any human's.

"Which one do you miss the most?" She though he might say Sasami as everyone missed her cooking or possibly Ayeka for Tenchi, but she was surprised when he answered.

"Mihoshi." He looked over at her surprised look. "You want to know why?" Ryo-Ohki just nodded her head. "It's because I can talk to her. After Ryoko's, um… problem," he offered weakly not really knowing a better way to say it. He then continued, "she had what earthlings call a mental breakdown." Ryo-Ohki scrunched up her face trying to understand, as the blonde had always been what Ryoko called a ditz, an idiot, a menace and many other things that were not very polite. "That night when I went to the kitchen I heard her crying on the couch," he explained. "When I asked her what was wrong she just cried harder. I've never really been good with knowing what to do with a crying female so I just held her on the couch as she cried." He half chuckled as he thought of that night. "When she could talk she talked about how her friend and partner died, well actually she thought she killed her at first."

The girl's eyes opened wide at this, 'Mihoshi killed someone?'

"I know it sounds strange, but as she told me about her friend I noticed something, she was speaking clearly. No babbling, and she could recall things very vividly." He finished drying a dish and put it away then turned to her again. "I think that night neither of us got any sleep. After she told me about, um, Kiyone I think her name was. I told her about Achika." At Ryo-Ohki's raised brow he added, "My wife. Well we talked long into the morning and for the next several nights we talked more and more. And I began to believe that when Kiyone died Mihoshi could not cope with the trauma so she did the only thing she could think of."

"What?"

He looked at Ryo-Ohki who was listening intently to this, "On earth when someone goes through an extreme amount of stress or trauma the brain shuts down and some get a split personality or some other mental disorder. Mihoshi became, well what you remember her as."

This was incredible, and hard to believe, if it was not for her having seen Mihoshi change. At the time, she did not understand it, but now it all started to make sense. Mihoshi had become calmer, and watched cartoons less. She even stopped crashing into the lake when returning from patrols. It was like a completely different person. She cracked a smile and thought about it, then her smile widened when she suddenly remembered he called Achika his wife, not his darling or his beloved. He was letting go which could only mean one thing, "You love her."

"Huh, well, I oh…"

She looked up and realized she had said that out loud. With the way his face was reddening, it had to be true; "you do don't you?" He just nodded and his eyes fell so that they looked at the floor. "Why did she leave then?"

"Think about it," he said almost coldly, "I'm older than her and I'm getting old. Washu says that Mihoshi will live for several more centuries, not as long as Tenchi will but for several centuries at least."

"And?"

He looked up at her almost angry; "I won't make her watch me die of old age while she remains young."

She thought about it and she could see pain written on his face though he tried to hide it. He had a convincing argument, but 'what difference should age make?' The next thought that hit her she had to ask though, "Did you ask her what she thought of that? Ryoko's thousands of years older than Tenchi."

"I," he paused as she saw something akin to shame, then he humbly told her, "no, I didn't even tell her how I felt."

'So that's why she left, she didn't know,' she said to herself. Then other things started making sense. He had been depressed lately which is one of the reasons he's been quieter, and now that he did not tell her how he felt he's lost the chance. Mihoshi may never be back, and even if she did too much time may have passed between them, or she might have found someone new. As these thoughts ran through her head, he quietly left to go to his room. The pain that he seemed to go through was similar to hers in that she believed she cared for someone but could they care the same way? Was what she felt love? There was only one way to answer wither of her question, she would have to ask him. The only problem with that was when or how?

Somehow, that night she got some sleep though her mind continued to mull over these thoughts and her sleep was not restful. And as she imagined the next morning, he had returned with Ryoko and at breakfast they were sitting close and smiling at each other. During breakfast, she would look over at his father and he seemed a little more despondent, but he soon covered up his emotions to allow him to get through yet another weekend. She guessed that seeing how in love his son was made him wish to have either his wife or Mihoshi back.

During the day, she tended her garden with a little help from Ryoko and then the field this time with him helping. She could not help but think that both times they kept a closer eye on her than they had before, but quickly dismissed it. Neither one had ever been observant enough to tell how someone was feeling just by looking at them. Once chores were done she changed into her training clothes and went up to the shrine to start her training. Katsuhito already had Tenchi and Ryoko sparing and both seemed to be doing a lot better than normally. While he preferred a single sword that he could hold with one or two hands she favored a slightly shorter one-handed sword and occasionally she would use two.

This brought to mind a memory of long ago that she had nearly forgotten about herself. Before being a pirate and before Kagato kidnapped her, Ryoko trained with Washu, her mother. Ryo-Ohki could remember watching from the sidelines. Washu and her both fought with two swords and at the time they were both quite good, though it seems that Ryoko was remembering, she was no where near what she used to be. Katsuhito would routinely interrupt them talking about her defense and stance saying occasionally, "Ryoko! Remember the basics and keep up your defense." Once he really got her riled up by adding in, "Your sloppy defense allowed me to beat you."

"What are you talking about!" The pirate spun around towards him pointing her sword at him, which at the time were only the wooden training swords.

"That," he said while pointing at her. She looked to her side to see Tenchi's sword resting against her neck. "You relied on your reputation and their fear to keep them from attacking, but when we fought I showed you no fear. Then you used strength and wild swings, but skill can defeat both of those."

"What the hell do you want!" She was nearly screaming and Ryo-Ohki had to cover her ears to keep them from ringing.

"Simply being who you are there may be those that seek revenge on you, and if it's discovered who Tenchi is then they might try to strike Jurai through him. You may be the last and only chance he has. So you have to work on your defense if you want to protect him."

She looked down and muttered an apology, which took Ryo-Ohki by surprise, first that she backed down like that and secondly because she apologized. Entranced by the scene she watched as Katsuhito approached her, then placing his hands on her shoulders he said something that surprised her even more. "You're doing well, and I'm proud to have you in our family." He then gave her a quick hug, which was something that she had never seen him do before. Ryoko too was taken by surprise, but she returned the hug. Pulling away, he told them, "Your training is done for today, but you are to be back here tomorrow, understand?" They both muttered a yes before he turned to Ryo-Ohki. "Come your training begins now."

Her family stayed to watch as she started receiving her first lessons which were mainly how to hold a sword, but the girl just could not seem to hold the sword right. In the next twenty minutes, he had to tell her again and again how to hold it, but each time she tried to hold the center and not the ends.

"Grandfather?"

"Yes Tenchi."

"With the way she's holding it do you think a Bo would be better than a sword?" He thought about it while looking at the way Ryo-Ohki held the middle and the end and then suddenly turned and walked to a rack.

He pulled out a wooden rod that was taller than Ryo-Ohki, and threw it at her. She caught it in the middle and he smiled. "I think this will do better. You may go now Tenchi." Tenchi bowed and left with Ryoko while Katsuhito started over on her training, and this time she seemed to fare much better with this type of weapon.

It was some time later that she was able to return home. After getting cleaned-up and changed she found herself outside a door that did not go to her room. Ryo-Ohki stood outside his room waiting and wondering, 'Should I go in, or not?' She had been wondering about this since her training earlier, so she's been working up the courage to talk to him, and now her courage faltered. When she talked to Nobuyuki last night she knew that she had to tell him, as she did not want to live with knowing that she could have said something and lost her chance. Not to mention she had been so lonely this past week and now that they were back, it seemed that she just became lonelier still. She was just about to turn and leave when she heard a female voice from inside call to her.

"Ryo-Ohki you can come in."

She gulped and wondered how could she have known, then realized that she had not been keeping a very good barrier on her link to Ryoko. Opening the door, she strode in hoping along the way to regain some of her courage and say what was on her mind. The site that greeted her was unexpected. Tenchi and Ryoko were not necked as she had expected them to be since they had been alone in his, their, room for some time. Tenchi was in a loose pair of sweatpants and Ryoko wore one of his large T-shirts, which covered her from her shoulders to about a foot below her waist.

Tenchi broke the silence, "Ryo-Ohki, what's wrong?"

"I, well you see."

"Ryo-Ohki? Are you ok?" Ryoko seemed concerned and through her link with her former mistress, she could feel her concern.

"What am I?" she finally blurted out.

"Huh? What do you mean?" She looked at him and he had a confused face, and she could curse him at times for his thick-headedness, but she realized that he was truly lost on this one.

"What am I? Am I a pet or, or…" her voice faltered and tears began to well up in her eyes.

Ryoko embraced her in what seemed a motherly way, if she had actually had a mother. "Tell me, what's wrong."

She tried hard to explain to her, to them what she was feeling. Her loneliness, her questions her every doubt. She wanted to know what love was and if someone could actually love her, the way he loved Ryoko, his wife. Ryo-Ohki had been the flower girl at their wedding well over two years ago. And since then she wondered about love and if, she would ever feel it. But with whom, or what? Sure there were other cabbit's in the lake, but none of them understood her needs now. She was not just an animal, but a space ship, and now a human. Or at least she looked human to others. Her two friends were stunned as she transmitted her thoughts to them; Tenchi not being quite so used to it was near reeling at the sudden influx of ideas, images and feelings. Feelings that she had never understood or had before coming to earth. Now she desired things, but could not have them. If she were to be with a man or an earthling, could they accept her for what she was? All three of her forms, or would they push her away and treat her as an imitation of a human, lacking a soul and unable to feel.

"Ryo-Ohki, there is someone for you, and he will love you like you need to be. Right Tenchi?" Ryoko sounded sincere and for a moment, she almost believed her.

"Yea, you wait and see, there'll be someone." His voice though did not sound quite as sincere, which caused the girl to break down before him and start crying. "Wait Ryo-Ohki! I'm serious, I just don't know if he'll be on this planet or not." She stopped crying and looked at him, he sounded serious. Desperately she wanted to believe that.

'Tenchi, how do you feel about her?' His wife asked him mentally.

'What! Ryoko, what are you thinking?'

'Well, you remember when she became human right?'

'Well yea. Why?'

'She did it for you. I can see in her mind she really cares deeply for you and Washu said that the Masu went to you out of her desire to help you.'

'What are you asking? You don't mean…'

'Yes I do, do you love her too?'

This hit him hard. He sat down on the bed to think about it. Once before she had asked him about one of the other girls, specifically Ayeka. He had told her that he did love her, so Ryoko had promptly pushed him to go propose to Ayeka too. Of coarse the princess was considering it, but in the end, they both decided that Ayeka would not become his second wife. There were several reasons for it, and he had not told Ryoko about all of them. But she seemed to be suggesting it again, but why? He looked up to see the motherly way that Ryoko, held Ryo-Ohki and he asked himself, 'Will anyone ever be able to see all of her forms and love her still? Will someone just see her as a pet and not care about her feelings?' And though he did not know the answers to either of these he knew that she needed someone, but who and how?

'Tenchi?' He looked up at his wife as she moved behind Ryo-Ohki. 'Look her in the eyes, tell me what do you see? She's hurting more than I ever thought she could. We already share a mental link with her, and she loves you.'

This was unbelievable; here his wife was asking him to say he loved someone else! He tried to throw a reason in as to why he couldn't say it, but he had cared deeply for all the girls that lived here. He had cared more for Ryoko and after he saved her, he had told her so. In the process of saving her he was given a taste of the pain that she had lived with and in the time since their marriage, he had done everything he could to help ease her pain. But now there seemed to be another one hurting.

'Don't you find her attractive? Can't you say it?' His head shot up as his wife said these things to him.

'Now look here, if I'm gonna say it it's not gonna be because of her looks or being pressured about it.'

'Then you do love her!' His wife's voice sounded happy while he looked dumbstruck. 'Well if you loved her then you'd be concerned for her like you were for me.'

'But Ryoko, I just can't…' He trailed off as he looked at Ryo-Ohki. She was standing there with tears running down her face. 'Damn it, why does this have to happen to me,' he thought inwardly. 

As each one of the girls arrived, he had found he liked them all for one reason or another, Ryoko for her spirit and strength. Not just her physical strength, but he believed it must have been hard to live with her captors and with Ayeka. If what everyone had said about her was true then he was very surprised that he had lived through her attack on him at his school and that she did not kill Ayeka those hundreds of times she could have. Ayeka was another story, she had a quite strength and a strength of the heart, but when he discovered that she was going to marry his grandfather he could not look at her without seeing him. Though he really cared for her, he was not sure it was ever love. He did respect her, want to protect her, but love her?

Washu he knew was Ryoko's mom, and with what he felt for Ryoko, he could not see himself with Washu, although some of the outfits she wore were very exciting. He hated it though as Washu tried to force him into sex several times. He knew that she had also had a child and had been married before so she must know what she was doing, but that did not help him mind any. Even Mihoshi he was unsure of how he felt. Sure she had a great body but just everyday life with her was almost enough to make his scream, so he could not imagine a life with her as she was.

"I never… I never really told you the reasons Ayeka and I didn't marry as well."

"What does that…" Ryoko started then stopped as he sent her a mental thought asking her to just listen.

"She wanted to know… if I could love her the way I love you, Ryoko. At the time I couldn't answer her…" he paused a moment, then continued. "But I know the answer better now." He looked at them both; "I can't love anyone the way I love you."

Ryoko didn't know weather she should be happy or sad at the moment, and she could feel an unbelievable amount of grief from Ryo-Ohki. "So…" the girls started, "You can't love me?"

"I can't love anyone like I do Ryoko, but that doesn't mean I can't…."

"So you can love her too?"

"Yes," he sighed, and wished that he could just say it all at once. "I loved everyone of the girls here for one reason or another, and each one I loved differently. When I talked to Ayeka, she wanted me to love her like you. I couldn't, and I didn't fully understand why then."

"Would you marry her now?"

He sighed again, "That was only one of the reasons. She told me that even if I did marry you both there would never be peace." He tried to mentally picture it, "I can just imagine you two trying to share a bed, or even a house."

"Well, we could have had two beds?"

"Or three, but which bed would I sleep in? Would we still all be in separate rooms, or would I have to go from bed to bed at night? And how or who would decide who's bed I slept in."

"Oh…" Ryoko said as the realization hit her. "Even after you choose we would still fight to see where you slept."

"Right, and she knew that too. Neither of us thought that the two of you could actually share me, much less my bed. Could you sleep at night knowing I was with Ayeka?"

"No, but with Ryo-Ohki, it's different. I know she won't… I know she will not get in the way of you loving me, or try to take you from me. I know her, I have know her for a long time."

Ryo-Ohki seemed to be trying to understand the problem. "Tenchi, Ryoko and I have spent thousands of years together, at times we have slept together ourselves…" she tried to truly understand, but the thought of sharing a bed with him and her was not a problem. 

" I offered to share you with Ayeka because I knew you two loved each other, although I was not entirely happy…" that last part slipped out and she stopped before she said too much.

He was not mad though instead he just smiled. "I know, and she knew too, which is why she said no."

"Tenchi…" Ryo-Ohki began, "I know you can't love me like her, but can you love me?"

It all came down to that simple question, he looked at Ryo-Ohki, really looking this time he did not see the cabbit before him, but a young woman, a very beautiful young woman that almost rivaled his wife in beauty. But did he love her? Did he really want to say he loved another? He did not know when, he started to love her, and it had taken him some time to actually express his feelings for Ryoko, and even then, it was after a near death. He ran a hand over his neck nervously and then through his hair before he stood and walked over to the two women.

He placed a hand on each of their cheeks and looked at the two of them. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But I've given my heart to Ryoko, and I am not sure it's right to…"

"Tenchi, no buts," Ryoko told him sternly. "You either do or you don't."

'Are you sure you want this? Do you realize what could happen because of it?'

'Do you realize what loving a space pirate would do to your normal life my Tenchi?'

Nodding his head he said to them, "Ryoko, was right. There is someone that can love you. When I first started to love her I don't know, but it has grown to the point I never want to be separated from her. I said I was not sure where to find him earlier. The truth is the 'him', is me. I love you both." Ryo-Ohki grinned and her eyes lit up with joy though he did not get to see much of her face as she leapt at him hugging him and crying on his shoulder. He hugged her back and then pulled his wife into the embrace as well so that they could hug each other with Ryo-Ohki in the middle.

As they hugged, he whispered to Ryo-Ohki, "Please, understand… our love is just beginning." She nodded against him, happy to hear that he loved her. 'What am I going to tell dad about this?' he thought as he smiled.

+++++

Note:

I had to change the ending and a few parts along the way as Space Pirate Minagi pointed out to me it seemed Tenchi only accepted this out of pity for her. I don't want it to come across like that so after a lot of thought, mixed in with working on many other stories, I have revised it. I hope it sounds better this time.


	5. Mihoshi's Realizations and Conclusions

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Mihoshi's Realizations, and Conclusions

This is a continuation of "Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending." This takes place several months after "Ryo-Ohki, Person of Pet." I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes, as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me.

*****

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Mihoshi's Realizations, and Conclusions

Mihoshi sat in the command chair of her ship the Yukinojo thinking again. 'It's been a long time,' she thought in reference to her time on earth. Almost nine months ago she was recalled to space for what she thought was just a routine report, but this time it was her grandfather, the Grand Marshal, asking her to return to the central office. Since he was asking, she couldn't say 'no'.

That plus, since that night, she changed a lot. 'It happened that night. The night he chose.' She took one more look at the monitor. In this part of space, there was just her ship for at least two days travel in any direction. Seeing that nothing was anywhere nearby, she surrendered herself to her memories.

Sasami had woken her up saying that they needed to find Ryoko, so she had agreed to help look. While in the kitchen though the whole wall seemed to fall in on them. She had barely covered the princess' body before she was knocked unconscious by something. When she awoke she was covering Sasami's body with her own and there was something red all around.

She had immediately thought that the princess was dead, but a quick check of her pulse showed that she was just unconscious. Relieved, she carried her outside and met up with Tenchi and the others. As she stood there trying to understand what happened, she was surprised when he threatened Ayeka with his sword. She knew then that this was not going to be a fun night. It was shortly after she told them about where she had last seen Ryoko that Washu fell apart.

Trying hard to understand and forcing back the voice in her head saying to forget it was tough but she managed. Soon he was telling them about hearing Ryoko in his head and then a horrible sound was heard, that sound that broke her defenses and pulled down the walls she had mentally put up to protect herself. It was a scream, but not just a normal one, but one of sheer torture and pain like she's never heard before. 'No, I've heard a scream like that before,' she recalled, it was her partner Kiyone that last sounded like that. She was not sure how or what had happened to Ryoko, but since hearing the scream she could not sleep for the next several days.

It was because one of those sleepless nights that she happened to be awake when Nobuyuki came home. He had been at work in the city the past week so he was not aware of what had happened. She had tried to explain but all she really knew was that Ryoko had been hurt, Tenchi saved her and while in the onsen with Ryoko and Ayeka she had found out that Tenchi had chosen and said he loved Ryoko. This meant that the one she thought was her destiny was not in love with her.

She had cried out, "Why can't he love me?" To her surprise, she discovered that Nobuyuki had listened to her and was giving her a slight hug trying to help her. The gesture was sweet, but it didn't help as much as she wanted. Over the next several weeks, he was making the commute home every other night. He was trying to help and each time he was home the two of them would talk in the kitchen over coffee about anything she wanted to. 

It was one of those nights that she had told him the truth about her last partner Kiyone, and how she felt responsible for her death. Well, she had thought Kiyone had died. Now she knew the truth, but at the time she was so sure, Kiyone was never coming back. When Ayeka left Earth, she knew that the princess would be back but that only served to force her out of her protective shell. On Earth, she had found a place she loved and could be happy, truly happy for once. And now that Ayeka had gone only the princess Sasami was left on Earth; and if she left then it would not be much longer before she would have to leave, too.

Over the next several months, she took Ryo-Ohki to several bars until they found a karaoke bar. It was there that she had taught the cabbit how to sing, and she was surprised to find out how good the girl sang. Of course Ryo-Ohki kept saying that Washu had given her the ability to speak and sing, but Mihoshi knew the truth; in order for her to sing like that, one must have the heart for it. There were several nights when Ryo-Ohki would sing an especially sad song, as she would say to test her ability. But during the song the tone, the emotion behind the words and the voice would strike a cord with many there. She almost laughed now at how common it was to see people nearly crying or out right bawling after a particular sad song from Ryo-Ohki.

It was after the girl had won the singing contest every night they went for a month that it was decided to try something new. That something new was dancing, and though neither had really gone dancing before they both tried hard. She started chuckling softly as she remembered how many heart-broken boys they left behind. Each one of them had tried to teach them a new step or move, and each one loved trying hard to be the one to go home with them. As usual, Mihoshi would not allow Ryo-Ohki to leave with any of them nor would she allow any of them to come home with them. 'Poor Ryo-Ohki, she just didn't understand them,' she mused to herself as she thought of the way the poor girl looked when she told the boys no.

Taking care of her like that and having Nobuyuki to talk to had brought Mihoshi out of her shell. Since Kiyone, she had lived in a bubble world where she seemingly cared about nothing. But since the night that Ryoko attacked everyone, her beautiful fantasy world had fallen apart. There was no way she could pick it up after that. Slowly over the months, she had tried to piece together her new life with Tenchi, Ryoko, Ryo-Ohki, Washu, Sasami, Katsuhito and Nobuyuki. In that time she realized that real life was not as bad as she remembered and she left her Old World behind. A few of them noticed the changes in her.

Nobuyuki was first to notice as she had spent the most time with him since then. Sasami and Ryo-Ohki noticed but it was not until nearly a month later that Tenchi or Ryoko noticed. She could hardly fault them on it though. They were getting used to life together and Ryoko herself was going through a lot of changes. Many times, she had seen the ex-pirate trying to cook and clean, and even taking cooking lessons from Sasami while she was there. Then after she was married to him she calmed down even more!

The wedding still brought a tear to her eye as she remembered it. Ryoko and Tenchi had been dressed up fancy, especially her. Most of the people there were his family though a few others had showed up as well. Even the Queens of Jurai were there, and dressed up in Earth clothes as to not let his Earth family know that any of them were from another planet. She smiled remembering how her own grandfather had been there as well. After the wedding and during the reception was when he gave Ryoko his present. As a wedding gift he gave her a full pardon of everything that he could saying it had been proven to him that what she did was not her own fault. The gift had caused Ryoko to start crying openly and she hugged him. The feared space pirate Ryoko was hugging the Grand Marshal of the Galaxy Police and crying. It was a moving and touching scene.

"Hey, Mihoshi, you okay?"

She suddenly looked up out of her memories to see her partner there, Hishiro Masayuke. He was slightly taller than she was and definitely more muscular than Tenchi, but he was a royal pain. He wasn't hard on the eyes at all, and like her, he had tanned skin, blonde hair and a set of beautiful blue eyes, but she couldn't stand him. "Yeah, just something in my eye." She rubbed her eye to find that she had a tear in it as she remembered the past. 'And why not, it's a good memory,' she told herself. She had been reliving memories of the past and of course, he had to show up and pull her out of her memories.

"Have you seen or heard anything yet?" She just shook her head and he cursed, "Nothing ever happens out here." They had been assigned to patrol this rock called a planet several months ago and during the time there was only a few things to do; eat, sleep talk to him and remember the past. And though she liked to eat there was only so much food that they could carry and it would last them only a short time if she ate all the time so that was out. And watching for problems required one person to pilot and one to watch the scopes so she could not sleep that much. Talking to him was out as the first month he had spent trying to get her into bed with him. So that left her to her memories and she took every advantage of it.

An uncomfortable silence followed his last words, but she had since grown used to it. She knew what was on his mind as he had asked several times. He had come up with a way to pass the time and while she thought he was cute enough, she just could not see having sex with him. 'He's arrogant, selfish and egotistical,' she thought. 'And I don't love him.'

It had been a few months after Sasami left that she had to leave as well. And while it was a sad occasion, she knew it would be coming. Many times, she had told Nobuyuki that she would have to leave and surprisingly he had asked her not to go, then told her not to go. When asked why he would come up with several weak excuses. She herself had nearly believed them, but there was one reason that he would not mention and she had to guess about it.

She thought the reason he wanted her to stay was that out of their friendship something more seemed to be growing. At first, she did not want to admit it to herself, but if Ryoko can fall in love with a man that young when she herself was over a few thousand years old then age certainly should not be a factor for her. But she had slowly decided that while neither wanted her to go she had to. He was an earthling, they rarely lived to be over a hundred, and even then, they looked to be several millenniums old.

When the day finally arrived she had left and many tears were shed, but she had to leave. It would be hard to watch him grow that old while she remained looking young. Now that she thought about it, if they would have just said what was on their minds she could at least be happy at this moment. She looked over at her partner and as expected he was looking at her, but only certain parts of her. Just the look in his eyes made her skin crawl. 'Just one more reason to add to why I won't do that with him,' she said mentally.

When he finally realized that she was ignoring him, he left in a huff muttering something about her cracking soon. "Not on your life," she muttered back as he left the room. Taking another look at the display, she resumed her boring watch over this planet. The planet had a breathable atmosphere like earth, but there was much less water and trees. In fact, it was what most races classified as a desert planet. The inhabitants were split as surface dwellers or underground.

Those that lived underground had better eyesight and pale skin while the surface dwellers had poorer eyesight and dark skin from their exposure to the sun. However, both lived in relative harmony and it was because of a few warring factions that she was here now. For nearly a month she had interrupted battles and acted as a mediator to both sides, but since that time, it has been quiet. Also since she came to terms with things in her past and left her fantasy world behind she's had fewer accidents and has even been able to land her ship in a severe firestorm in hostile weather without taking any damage.

A sudden thought hit her and she turned her attention to an Earth calendar that he had given her. It has been four months since she left Earth and on each month, he had something written to remind her of her home. He had circled dates that were anniversaries of special events. Like birthdays, Tenchi's Anniversary, the day Tenchi chose and more. "Has it really been four months?"

Recalling her first month back she had spent it in the central office going over her old reports and getting re-acquainted with how the Galaxy Police operated. In her absence, a few things had changed, but she was able to adapt quickly. The most important thing though happened at the end of that month before her re-assignment to space. Her grandfather the Marshal had called her into his office for a briefing.

"Mihoshi, I have something for you."

"Oh, What is it sir?"

"Please, in here just call me grandfather."

"Ok." She relaxed and sat in a chair beside him.

"You've changed," he said pensively, "and in a good way. After losing Kiyone I thought you would never be able to get over it."

"I know, it's been hard…" her voice cracked as the painful memories came back.

"As I said I have something for you, I was not sure how you would react to it before so I kept it until I thought you were ready." He reached over and pressed a button on his desk. A monitor rose from it and a picture of Kiyone appeared. The sudden shock nearly caused her to start crying, but she noticed that she wasn't in her uniform, and she looked older than she remembered. As Mihoshi looked at him expectantly he hit another button and the video began playing.

"Detective First Class Kiyone Makibi reporting in Marshal." She said with a sharp salute. "I'm sure you're wondering about my delay in reporting especially since Detective Mihoshi's report must have listed me as dead from our last mission." This caused Mihoshi to squirm in her chair, as she realized that this must have been made after their last mission! But how could that be?

"This is a long story sir but I will keep it brief. After falling into the energy stream, my body was forced into a hibernation state and when I awoke, I was with the pirate Hisato. She had saved my life but for a time, after then I was extremely sick and unable to move. She cared for me during that time and Mihoshi was right. She hasn't always been the mean vicious person our reports say she is. Anyway, I am getting off the point. At the time I wanted to kill my partner for what happened," Mihoshi balked and pulled away before the recording. "But I realize now that it wasn't her fault. I do not blame officer Mihoshi for this and in fact, I thank her."

"What!" Mihoshi nearly screamed.

"We drifted in space for a few days before a passing freighter picked us up and brought us on board. At the time, I was too weak and she did not mention who I was or who she was. I spent the next week in the medical lab and recovered slowly. She spent time with me until my full recovery. I had wanted to make my report to you then and that was when I was told that it would be impossible. The freighter did not have deep space communication abilities and we were already too far out of range for normal communication. I had asked them to turn around but found that they could not. And so I stayed with them on the freighter until their return to this sector."

The video grew silent for a moment. Then she continued, "What happened out there is hard to summarize sir, but I request that my status be dropped from missing in action to retired. I… I've found my home. I will not be returning to active duty, sir." She bent over and picked up a little girl. "This is my daughter, I have married one of the officers on board and my friend, the one who saved me has married his brother." She laughed a moment then added, "Imagine a pirate and an police officer in the same family. But it's true. She's saved my life, sir. I ask that you grant her a pardon of her crimes. She's turned her back on her past and her children would be hurt to see her go."

Mihoshi couldn't believe it! Her partner, married, and a mother! Not only that, but to hear her saying this about someone that she had said so many cruel things about. In Mihoshi's mind she could still hear Kiyone say, "Once a crook always a crook." And now, it was a whole different story.

"Sir, if it will help I will resign my commission and remain MIA or presumed dead if needed. She's like a sister to me and I care about her as much as I care about Mihoshi. I'm not sure how she will react to this and since I have spent so much time away I am not even sure I could resume my duties if asked." Tears were flowing down her usually stern face as she held her daughter. Finally placing her daughter of the ground beside her, she looked back up at the camera. "This is Detective Kiyone signing out." She then removed her badge and gun and placed them in a box along with what looked like her uniform folded up. Kiyone now stood before them, alone. And with a last salute she was joined with the pirate, two men and their children before it stopped.

"That's…"

"Yes, that's her family, her new family. The man beside her is Takana, her husband and that is their daughter." He paused for a moment as Mihoshi stared at it, "And yes that is his brother and his wife, the now pardoned pirate Hisato. After reviewing this information, I granted her request on both things. Her sister was pardoned and she was re-classified as retired."

"How… how long ago?"

"We received this during your stay on Earth. And from the video it appears to have been filmed possibly two years after your mission and it had been several months before we received it."

"So she's…"

"Yes, she's not dead, and she thanks you for what happened." At that, his granddaughter began crying and holding on to him, so he just held her and like he had done many times before he comforted her. Mihoshi had needed his help after the mission when Kiyone disappeared and he helped calm her down then, and several times since then, she had gone to him. He was more than a grandfather was; he was like her father.

A slight beeping pulled her away from her memories yet again. Blinking her eyes, she looked at the display to see that her shift was almost over. "Why can't this planet have at least one beach that's worthwhile?" She had asked nobody in general so she was not surprised when she did not receive an answer. It would not be much longer till she was to retire for the night so she began reviewing the radar displays and the other surveillance systems to make sure she had not missed anything.

After her shift, she set the ship on a stationary orbit above the northern pole of the planet while her partner watched the radar. According to her calendar, it was getting close to Ayeka's birthday so she quietly went to the communication room to send a happy birthday message. What she was not expecting to see were a list of messages that were sent to her. Apparently, they had been viewed, but she'd never seen them. The first was the normal junk from the central office about their orders and usual encouragement's; then the messages changed. For the past month the central office has been recalling them saying that they've been re-assigned, but the messages never said to where.

She hoped they were re-assigned to Earth but none even hinted at going back, until the last one. It was a dispatch sent directly to them from The Empress of Jurai. There was a message encoded into it so she played it.

"Greetings Officer Mihoshi." A cheerful voice said. And even before she looked up at the display she knew it was Ayeka's voice. "I've been asked by Tsunami to deliver this personal invitation for you to return to your patrol on Earth. It seems that a request has been made weekly for about a month before I was informed by my sister," she stopped and giggled. "I mean Tsunami. She said that I should re-assign you there, though I don't know why. Oh well, they have their reasons. I just hope this time you don't turn it down."

There she sat for several minutes looking at the display. 'I've been re-assigned for a month and no one told me! I could've gone home and no one told me!' The blonde missed the simple fact that Ayeka was an empress or even that Tsunami and Sasami had apparently assimilated or something for she was contemplating what she would do first, to him. That jerk had been keeping her out here when she could be home! If she had seen him at that moment she might have used him for a punching bag, but his luck held out and she returned to her cabin without seeing him.

There in the stillness of space she began making her plans. She was going to return home despite what he wanted and when she got there she would finally tell him, the man that has been occupying her thoughts lately just what she thought of him. 'If Kiyone can find love and get married, then so can I,' she proclaimed as she went to her room to think. Several hours later he arrived to tell her it was her turn to watch the radar again. It took all of her will power not to throw him out right that instant. "Ok you go to sleep and I'll take it from here," she told him with a wink. Racing off to the command chair though she could not help but feel her skin crawl as he watched her.

Hishiro stood there a moment watching her run off admiring her figure from the back. "I can't wait till I have that." Smirking he went to his quarters.

When she reached the command chair she turned on the radar but also brought up the ships central scanners. Once she confirmed that he was asleep she put her hastily thought up plan into action. She had the computers and scanners to his room shut off and then had her ship lock him in it. Satisfied that he would not interfere she sent a personal message to central command and to Jurai, "This is Officer First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu. I have received the orders for re-assignment to Earth. I accept and am on my way there now." Closing the channel she smiled and set course for Earth. "Yukinojo? "

"Yes Miss Mihoshi?"

"I've set a new course for Earth. I want you to head there as fast as possible."

"But the engines will overheat long before we get there! It'll take at least three days to get there at maximum velocity!"

"Oh, you worry to much! Just step on it." She then pushed the ship up to speed slowly as to not jar her sleeping partner. When he learns of this he'll be upset, and she did not want to have to listen to it right now. "Goodbye desert planet, Hello Earth!" Nearly squealing with delight as the ship reached its maximum thrust, she knew it would take some time but she had to get home: the faster, the better.

She awoke some time later still in the command chair, but something was different. "Yukinojo?"

"Yes Miss Mihoshi?"

"Where are we?"

"We are precisely Forty hours away from Earth. The engines have slowed to allow them to return to normal operation before starting out again. We should resume course in four hours."

"Ok." Her ears then picked up a different sound, similar to a banging or clanging. "Um, what's that noise?"

"That would be Officer Hishiro trying to get out of his room."

"Oh, turn on the internal audio communication to his room please."

"MIHOSHI! Get me out of here! Damn it! You can't keep me locked up in here! What'd I do! Damn you let me out!"

"Oh my," she said covering her ears. "Please calm down."

"What the hell's going on! I went to sleep in orbit around a planet and awake to find we're in the middle of nowhere."

"Not entirely nowhere, we have new orders and we are not far from our new patrol!" She nearly sang the words as she thought of going home again.

"How'd you find out? I mean what new patrol?"

Her happy mood was crushed as this confirmed her suspicions. "You've been receiving new orders from Central Command and have not told me about them. Then you respond to them in my name turning them down! I ought to have you court-martialed or jailed for this! You're lucky I only confined you to quarters."

"How'd you find out!" he shouted out.

A grin spread across her face, 'He's confessed to it!' Up to now she had been running on speculation but now she had some proof. "Yukinojo, cut all communications from his room. And keep his computer terminals off."

"Yes ma'am"

Once her orders were carried out, she began thinking of what she would do once she returned home. Should she rush into his arms or should she wait for a few more moments to find out if he feels the same? And what of Hishiro? She had composed a message to be sent to the central office about what he has done, and she knew that if she really sent that message he would be as good as jailed and his career as a Galaxy Police Office would be over. She argued back and forth over it, and she could almost understand his wanting to be loved, or at least she hoped that was his reason. However, he was the one that has kept her away from what she wanted… to return home. Nowhere else in the stars had she felt so comfortable as the backwater planet that was called Earth. As her partner called it and even if she had to give up her commission, it just might be worth it.

Forcing those thoughts out of her head, she had her ship begin playing some of the recorded songs she loved so much. It was shortly after Nobuyuki discovered that she liked singing so much that he began taking her to the music stores and he would allow her to buy a few CD's at a time. Then Washu had installed a player compatible with the Earth CD's into her ship to allow her to listen to them even when on patrol. Each time she listened to them she though of Earth and in the time she had spent out in this remote section of space she has played her music over and over again till she new every song title and track by heart.

Of course the constant playing had nearly driven Hishiro crazy so she only played it when he was asleep or in her own quarters, but now she had them blasting throughout the ship. For some time she sang along with them and nearly made herself hoarse from it. When the ship began to move again she shrieked in excitement as this meant that it was just one more day to go before she arrived.

Kicking back in the command chair she allowed herself to drift to sleep and dream of sunbathing by a small lake, sleeping out on the grass, watching her favorite shows, and talking for hours on end with Nobuyuki. The only problem with her dream was that she kept being awakened by a noise, and each time she realized it was him, her partner, banging on something trying to get her attention. Reluctantly she turned back on the internal communication with his room. "What do you want?"

"Please, let me out of here! Look I know you want to go back, but that place is not good for you. Besides you said before that Tenchi rejected you, why go back?" Though he spoke what he thought was truth, she could not help but laugh.

"I'm not going back for him, and the place is not bad for me." She giggled thinking of how he and others referred to Earth as barbaric.

"But it's a non-interference system, you can't just show up on Earth uninvited!"

"Oh but I've been invited." 

If she'd had the internal video playing, she would have seen the smirk Hishiro wore. "Oh no, they only said you should resume your patrol and not that you could go back to Earth." She started to reply but then stopped, he was right. Ayeka had asked her to return to her old patrol only. "So you see they are just toying with you. Please, I was only trying to keep you from getting hurt." She began to soften at this and began to wonder about things. "Please, I love you."

She looked up and turned on the video screen, so that she could look at the image of him in his room. He looked rather haggled and tired, which only added to her thoughts. 'Was he right?' She looked back at her orders, and at once realized that a special request from Earth had been made for her return, and the only one that could contact the Galaxy Police from Earth must have been Washu. But why? Washu had always been telling her to go away and not to come back. 'No! That was before!' She nearly screamed at herself.

"Please Mihoshi, let me out of here. Let me show you what love is?"

"Yukinojo?" She looked up at the robotic head in front of her, and a new look swept over her face, the confusion seemed to be washed away.

"Yes Miss Mihoshi?"

"Turn off his communications again and resume playing CD 23 track 6."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Mihoshi! Wait you bit…" His voice was cut off and she smiled, as she knew he was lying. From that sudden outburst from him, he had to have been lying, why call her that if he loved her? 'For Washu to want me back there someone had to really be pestering her about it.' She smiled at the thought of him wanting her to come back; it had to be him.

She sat back and enjoyed listening to this CD; it was an American one, but it was still good she thought. Slowly she drifted off to sleep as she listened to her collection. The next several hours were a mix of joy and torture. 'What if I'm wrong and they don't want me back? But they must since they asked for me… But what if he doesn't want me? Or maybe Tenchi decided he wanted me too?' She stopped on that thought and began laughing. 'Yeah, right, like Ryoko would let him have another. But what if he's had a fight with her? I'm not going to get in the middle of that. They could just want to pick on me… or maybe Ryo-Ohki just wants a singing partner again. Oh, I wish I knew.'

On and on her thoughts went and back and forth she swayed from wanting to return to not wanting to. However, in all of her wondering she did not tell her ship to change course, or even slow down. Despite any misgivings, she felt or thought she had there was the driving feeling that she was needed at home. To pass her time she would take short naps, shift through her memories and wonder about her future.

By the time she reached the Sol system, she was nearly a nervous wreck. As she neared the system a voice nearly caused her to jump out of her skin. "Miss Mihoshi!"

"HUH! Oh yes Yukinojo?"

"We have entered the Sol system and are being hailed by the Earth."

"YES! I mean, put it on."

A screen appeared with the eccentric red-haired scientist on it. "Hello there!"

"Hi Miss Washu! I'm back!"

"I see, thankfully. He's been driving me crazy asking me every week to ask for you to return." Mihoshi was near jumping up and down holding her hands together. "I'm gonna open a portal and bring you directly into the lab."

"Really?"

"Yes, you're just a few seconds away and… there." Suddenly a huge void opened up before her ship and even before she could say a word it had enveloped the whole ship. All was black for a moment then the ship came to a sudden stop inside a dark room. Slowly the lights brightened and from the command chair she could see the insides of Washu's lab. Finally, she was home.

Washu, Ryoko, and Ryo-Ohki were there to welcome the blonde as she left her ship and appeared on the ground. None of them could even utter a hello or welcome back before the blonde had grabbed them in all in a huge hug. The three women were caught quite surprised but they returned the embrace and the blonde cried.

"There, there," said Washu as she patted the girl on the back. After some time, they were able to calm her down and they were about to leave when Washu suddenly stopped. "Um, Mihoshi?"

"Yes?"

"Why do my scanners indicate that there is someone still on your ship?"

"Oh, yeah. He's Hishiro, my partner." Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki suddenly looked nervous about that.

"Well, should he come too?"

Mihoshi looked over her shoulder at the ship and thought about it for a long moment before answering. "No, let him stay there for a while. Well," she looked back at her ship, "Yukinojo, would you beam him down in five minutes?"

"Yes, miss Mihoshi."

"What's that all about?" Mihoshi turned to Ryoko who was looking at her rather confused.

"Well, I just don't want to be here when he gets out, but if he's good then he's free for a while."

Ryo-Ohki quirked an eyebrow at this and asked Ryoko mentally, 'What does she mean?' Ryoko just shrugged her shoulders and told her she hadn't a clue. The two of them stayed behind to see just what this was all about while Washu led Mihoshi out of the lab.

"Miss Washu, you said that he's been asking about me, would that be Tenchi?"

Washu looked sideways at her and it was easy to tell that the blonde was nervous about who was asking her to return. But the scientist was not sure if she should tell her or not. Finally, she decided to say, "No it wasn't him." She then watched a curious sight as suddenly Mihoshi smiled and seemed relieved that Tenchi was not asking about her. She was going to ask more when they reached the door and Mihoshi all but jumped through it excitedly.

When Washu caught up to her she found that the blonde seemed suddenly, sad so she walked up beside her and asked her what was wrong.

"He's not here?"

"Who?" Mihoshi just looked at her and tears were already starting to form. "Oh." She then began to understand what was going on. Every week since Mihoshi had left Nobuyuki had asked about her and wondered if she would return, and in the past few months he had been nearly begging Washu to send a message to see if she could get Mihoshi re-assigned to patrol this system. Now she knew why he had asked to be called if she had ever showed up again. "You know of course that it's the middle of the week and he's in town working." Suddenly Mihoshi looked up and had the beginnings of a smile. This confirmed Washu's suspicions. "He asked to be called the moment you returned, but I haven't had the time to call him yet." She looked at Mihoshi who was now grinning; Washu herself began to grin. "Why don't you call him yourself?"

Before she even finished asking the blonde had grabbed the phone and was dialing his number at work. Laughing, she went to the kitchen to pull something that Ryo-Ohki was cooking off the stove. From there she could hear Mihoshi's half of the conversation.

"Hello, is… is Mr. Masaki available? Yes I'll hold." There was a bit of nervous waiting on Mihoshi's part as she twirled the phone cord in her fingers before he picked up. "Yes Mr. Masaki? It's me!" The scientist swore that she could hear him yell her name over the phone. "Uh huh, I made it back today. Yep, I'm home!" To hear her say that removed all doubt from Washu's mind. "Um, sure sounds fun. OK, see you soon." After hearing that, Washu walked back to the hall where Mihoshi was still standing and staring at the phone that she had just hung up.

Before Washu could even ask, Mihoshi told her. "He wants to take me out… to a restaurant in town." Mihoshi could barely believe it, he sounded so happy to have her back, perhaps she was right and she was missed and needed here. All of her thoughts that had been mixed between whether or not he wanted her back seemed to fade away. He was happy she was back; he was even taking off work early to make a special trip home just to take her out tonight.

"Well I'm glad…" She was unable to finish her thought as a man suddenly fell out of her lab door looking rather disheveled. He was tall and had blonde hair like Mihoshi, which caused her to suddenly think of her son; the child she had lost so many years ago.

"Damn it Mihoshi! What's the big idea of locking me up?" Mihoshi turned to him then saw that he sported two rather large bruises on his face, one on each side that looked like handprints. Out of the lab walked two rather annoyed ex-pirates. Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki looked at him with a rather foul look on their faces as they stepped out.

"What'd you expect me to do? He pinched my butt!" Ryoko shouted at her mother in answer to the obvious question that Washu had asked mentally.

Mihoshi just smiled and told them all, "I have to go get ready. I'm going on a date tonight!" His jaw dropped and the two ex-pirates just looked at her and then smiled.

Ryo-Ohki was the first to speak, "Nobuyuki right?" To which the happy blonde just nodded and ran upstairs.

"That old man?" All faces turned to him and he looked back at the disgusted looks, "What?" Ryo-Ohki just rolled her eyes and ran upstairs to help the blonde get ready. He looked around at the two remaining women around him and thought, 'This is going to be fun, all these beauties in one house… how lucky can one guy get?'

Mihoshi ran into her room to find that it was clean and nearly just like she left it; the one exception being that it was clean. Rushing to the closet, she began to pour through it trying to find the right outfit. "I'm glad you're back." Mihoshi turned to see Ryo-Ohki at the door.

"Oh thank you! Come in, come in!" Ryo-Ohki entered and began trying to help the blonde find the right clothes. "Tonight is going to be a special night, he's asked her to dress up for it!" The blonde was near bubbling over with joy as she had dreamed of this moment for so long. "Oh, it's good to be back… home." She smiled as Ryo-Ohki went about helping her pick out what should she wear. Right after picking out a formal dress she turned to her friend with a strangely sad expression. "Do you… do you think I'm doing the right thing?" The girl just looked at her strangely, as her mood seemed to change suddenly. "Do you think I should have come back quieter, maybe I should have come back and just kept it a secret for now… or maybe I should have got a place to stay at first before coming here and staying without asking… or maybe…"

"You don't want to stay with us?" Ryo-Ohki said quietly interrupting the blondes rambling. 

"Oh, no it's not that, it's…"

"It's what?" They looked at each other, Mihoshi wondering if she can make her understand what she's feeling and Ryo-Ohki looking back trying to understand. Pensively Ryo-Ohki asked a rather pointed question, "You're not sure if you love him?" The look on Mihoshi's face nearly caused Ryo-Ohki to start laughing. Her eyes had grown to nearly popping out of her head and the bewildered look was amazing. "So you don't know if it's right or if it's real."

"Let me tell you what's happened lately, it may help, okay?" Mihoshi looked at Ryo-Ohki as the girl sat on the side of the bed. Nodding, Mihoshi joined her and the girl began telling the blonde about last several months. "You see after you all left I was very lonely and was wondering what I should do now. I'm not really a human and not really a pet either." She looked down and her face reflected the sadness that she felt, "But after singing with you and being around here I realized I had some feelings that I've never had before." She looked at Mihoshi intently. "Love. I felt love for the first time. But, who could ever love me back?"

"Oh Ryo-Ohki, I'm…" she was going to say sorry but the girl cut her off.

"Well after several months of loneliness I finally went to talk to Tenchi and Ryoko about it. Imagine my surprise when Ryoko asked him if he could love me!"

"She what!" Mihoshi nearly screamed.

"Yes! She asked if he could love me, I… I guess I was broadcasting my feelings and she… She understood. Who could love a demon, but he loved her. So she thought he might love me too."

"Well? Did he?" Mihoshi was nearly hopping waiting for the answer, but the blush and look that Ryo-Ohki bore told all that needed to be. "He did! I mean, he does?" The girl just blushed more and nodded. "Oh! I'm so happy!" cried Mihoshi happily as she began to hug Ryo-Ohki tightly.

"Um, now…" coughed Ryo-Ohki, "Let's get you ready for your date."


	6. Nobuyuki's Pain and Joy

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Nobuyuki's Pain and Joy

This is a continuation of "Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending." This takes place right after "Mihoshi's Realizations and Conclusions." I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes, as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me.

I would like to say Thanks to Jim and Kathy who have helped me out immensely over the last two chapters. They have been very good at picking out many of my spelling and grammar mistakes. (And trust me there was a lot of them! :)

*****

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Nobuyuki's Pain and Joy

Nobuyuki hung up the phone with a perplexed expression on his face. 'She's back!' Those two words raced through his mind at an alarming rate;and though he was very happy,he was very worried. He had been waiting on this day for several months and now it was happening. He looked down athis desk where there was a picture of Tenchi and Ryoko,as well as one of him and Achika. 'Oh, Achika, am I doing the right thing?' He had been wondering constantly about how he felt towards Mihoshi. After having a talk about itone night with Ryo-Ohki, he realized that he was losing precious time. The picture of his son and daughter-in-law reminded him that age really did not play a factor in this;it was more of his life span. His was much shorter than anyone else's, but until recently, he had not cared about that. 

When he let her go without telling her how he felt,it cost him a lot of precious time;time that he could not take back. But now, he'd resolved to tell her exactly how he felts. If she feltthe same then they would****make the best of what time he has left. But if she didn't, then at least he would know the truth instead of guessing and worrying. But,that truth is also something he was worried about finding out. Could he handle being told no? Especially after so long.

'No. She was happy to be back, and she said it would be fun to go out with me.' He looked back at the pictures and then left his office. The only real question right now was how to ditch work on such short notice.He headed down just a few doors to his boss' and stood for a few moments trying to decide what to say. Finally,he walked in.

"Ah, Mr. Masaki. What can I do for you?"

"Well Mr. Gemondo, I was wondering if I could take the rest of the day off?"

His boss looked at him skeptically for a moment, then asked, "Isthere any specific reason?"

"Well, um, you see…" He was not sure how to tell him this. Itwas kind of hard to explain himself.

"Does this have anything to do with that girl you've been thinking about these last few months?"

"Sir! I, well…" Try as he might no words could be formed. But,the smile his boss wore grew larger and larger. 'Oh, great! How does he know about this?'

"I'll take that as a yes." He then began to chuckle, "Oh, come off it, Nobuyuki, thisis Henzo you're talking to. Tell me; how long have we known each other?"

"Um, well…" Mentally he began counting off the years. Hefirst met Henzo about a year before meeting Achika. During the time he dated Achika,the two had been at odds with each other but they soon got over that. He chuckled to himself remembering the bachelor party Henzo had thrown for him.

"That long,huh?" Henzo said,while moving to his feet to approach Nobuyuki. "Look, I know it's strange having a friend as a boss, but come on. I went to business school and you took up architecture;so naturally I would be in management, right?" His friend just nodded. "And if you remember I was the one who slapped you upside the head and told you to propose to that girl. Was I wrong?"

Nobuyuki finally loosened up and began to laugh himself."No, you were right."

"Good! Now then,take the day off and gopropose to this girl." Henzo then took his seat as Nobuyuki just stared at him.

"What!"

"Look, it's no secret that you've been running around here with that stupid grin on your face. Last time I saw that grin was when you were dating Achika. I tell you there is no mistaking it."

"You, you knew? But… I…"

"Oh, I see that you're surprised I know this." He leaned back in his chair, obviously gloating over this personal insight that he had. "You forget that I told you to marry Achika, and I knew then. You even had me as the best man." Nobuyuki grinned and realized he had been worried for nothing. The times his friend spoke of had been so long ago he had nearly forgotten them. "Look, you've been moping around here for the last few months and your projects have been taking longer to complete. The way I see it is you caneither propose to her and get your mind back on your business, or you can be written up for delaying your projects."

"Now wait a minute! I haven't been delaying anything!"

"Yes you have. Whenis your current project due?"

"The fifteenth," he proclaimed proudly.

"And how far along are you?"

"Next week it will be done." Nobuyuki wore a smug look.

"Well that's good, but next week it will nearly be the thirtieth. You're a week late as it is." The smug look disappeared and he looked over at the calendar to see if it was true. Sadly it was, and Nobuyuki realized that in all of his years here he had never been late on a project; at least not till now. "Look, I don't want to mess up your record no more than you do, so I am giving you some time off to take care of some personal issues. But," he said, pointing a finger at him, "when you get back you had better tell me all about her. And I want a picture of this girl."

Nobuyuki was laughing as he walked to the door, "Oh, trust me,you'll find out about her." With that he left the office and headed home.

His boss watched him go off down the hall and he chuckled a few moments. Then,going into his friend's office, he grabbed Nobuyuki's briefcase and coat and brought them back to his own office. "She must be something else. I've never seen him leave his stuff behind."

After getting into his car and moving it only five feet, Nobuyuki began to wonder about things again. 'Whatif she says no? What if I'm wrong about all this? All she said was it sounds fun.That… that may have been it for her;just a fun time….' Shaking his head,he banished those thoughts and pulled out a small necklace from under his shirt. Looking at it, the memory of when he proposed to Achika played out before him. 'I… I can't give her this one. I couldn't even give it to Tenchi for Ryoko.' Again his heart was filled with sadness and great pain,such a pain, as he had not felt for some time. He was wounded deeply when he lost her,his wife of so few years. They had been married only a short time before Tenchi was born,and she remained on Earth for only a short time after that. Then he lost his second mom;her mom, to be exact.

Those two painful memories had been so great that he thought he would never open his****heart again. Andthen it happened, by some cruel accident. The locks and walls surrounding his heart opened ever so slightly and in walked a blonde officer. He had not even realized when she had, not until it was too late. When he realized what was happening and that he was beginning to live and love again,she was suddenly gone. This time he knew that she was alive, but he could not see her or talk to her. That had been worse than losing Achika. At least he knew where his wife's body lay after she left him. Looking again at the ring in his hand he spoke to it as if it were Achika."My love, I love another now. I can't handle hanging onto the past and the future, but I need help letting go. If she accepts me tonight…" Hisvoice caught in his throat as tears began to form. "If she accepts me then I must lay you finally to rest." Slipping the ring back under his shirt, he pulled away from the parking spot and headed for home.

The drive and time seemed to pass fartoo slowly for him. He wished he had listened to Washu when she told him that she could give him a personal transporter that would instantly take him back to the house. 'But what would I do about my car?' He lamented about how long he had owned it. It would be a shame to get rid of it now, but he figured it wouldn't hold a candle to her ship. "Oh no! Would she have to give up space for me? Or could we…" He wondered about it. Is it possible to actually go into space… with her? His mind began making plans while his eyes remained on the road. Thankfully, once he was outside the city,the streets opened up and much less traffic flowed into the countryside at this time of day.

Finally arriving back at his house,he pulled up into the driveway and up next to the house. Just like he had for many months. Butthis time,instead of looking up at her window hoping to see her,he looked down. A slight laugh escaped him as he realized that since she left he'dbeen looking up at her window hoping she would return. Andnow that she had he wasn'tlooking. 'She might be changing; or she might be waiting for me; or she might not be here at all;or…" Many things began to race through his mind;including thinking that the girls might have been teasing him. He did not get much time to sit and think about it,though.

"Hey, Dad! What's up?" The voice caused him to jump up, hitting his head on the roof and falling into the passenger seat rubbing his head.

"Oh, Ryoko… What's um? I'm just parking the car."

"But you've been sitting out here for five minutes."

"Really? Oh, okay. Just let me get my…" His voice trailed off as he reached into the back seat to get his briefcase,only to discover it wasn't there.

Ryoko looked at him surprised for a second, as she had never seen him like this when he returned from work. "Wow, let me guess… Casual day, right?" At his confused look she pointed as asked, "Where's your coat? You usually wear a coat with that." He looked at himself and realized that he had left his suit coat and his briefcase at work;along with the plans he was working on. He was about to try to come up with an excuse when she told him, " Ryo-Ohki says Mihoshi is almost ready, so you had better hurry." With that she disappeared.

With a smile he moved back to the drivers seat, and turned off the engine. Then taking a glance up at the window, he rushed inside to get ready himself. He barely gave it a thought that Ryoko was home during the middle of the week; usually, she's with Tenchi. Brushing off his thoughts,he hurried inside to get ready for the date. He rushed past the kitchen and barely paid attention to the two who were there, as the voice talking was Washu. 'Oh, it must be Tenchi. That's whyRyoko's here,' he thought for a moment before dashing off to the shower.

In the shower he kept mentally going over what he would do andsay, hoping that he had not forgotten anything else. On the way to the shower,he had called the restaurant and the reservations had been made. Beingthe middle of the week,it promised to be very romantic. 'And then… I'll ask,' he told himself,in an effort to rouse up some hidden courage fromwithin. Stepping out,he dried off and was about to open the door to his room when he noticed something in the mirror. Still hanging around his neck was the necklace that held his wife's wedding band. Placing a hand on it, the pain seemed to return;this time much stronger. Slowly he pulled it up and away from him. He could feel his heart ache as the necklace was pulled over his head.

Keeping his hand around it,he entered his room. Stopping at his dresser,he dropped it in one of the drawers. "Farewell,"he said to it and then turned to finish drying off and dressing. The first few moments without it was hard, but slowly the pain went away. His heart began to think about tonight. 'Maybeshe'll say yes.' He hoped he was not doing the wrong thing or being too hasty. The last thing he wanted was to cause her pain or to hurt her. Mihoshi hadgone through so much pain before and he did not want to make it worse. But he had to ask her. Hedid not think he could handle it if she were to leave him again.

Taking one last look at himself in the mirror,he smiled and stepped out of his room. When he entered the living room,he was surprised to see Washu and Ryoko sitting on the couch and a young man siting in a chair opposite them. When he heard him talking,he realized this was the one that Washu had been talking to in the kitchen earlier. As they talked, he did not notice the man had seenhim enter the room.

"Look," he said,obviously annoyed but trying to hide it."Wejust came here for her to say hi to some old friends." He stressed the word old and brought grumbles from both females and Nobuyuki. "We'll be leaving soon,I think. Personally,I don't know what she sees in this place. It'svery primitive." Nobuyuki could feel his heart sinking as this man continued to speak. "We've spent the last several months around a rather boring planet together. I only agreed to this after she persuaded me." He grinned at the two females and said in a rather low voice, "She can be very persuasive,if you know what I mean." He winked at them.Nobuyuki felt like his heart hadjust split. If it had not been for the wall he would have fallen over.

'What am I doing? No wonder she only said it sounds fun. She's… she's not really interested in me.' He looked back at the stranger and the pain was doubling and tripling as seconds flew by. 'He's younger than me, more athletic,and he's like her.' Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted byher voice.

"Nobuyuki! I'm ready." Her voice sounded as though she was singing, and it gladdened his heart. She came nearly running down the stairs in a very beautiful dress. The skirt covered most of her legs, but it stopped shortabove her feet showing off the shoes she had chosen. His heart stopped for a moment at the sheer beauty that she was.

Ryoko and Washu stood up to meet her. "Wow! Looking good,Mihoshi!" Ryoko sang out.

"Yes, I must say you look good. You might give him a heart attack like that," Washu said,snickering at the blonde.

"Thanks." She happened to look over at her partner who had not moved or looked at her;in fact he seemed to be stuck. "Um, Miss Washu… Whathappened to him?"

Not even looking over her shoulder she replied, "Oh,his mouth was annoying me so I froze him. Maybe he'll watch his mouth next time." Mihoshi and Ryoko just started laughing, as did Ryo-Ohki who was behind Mihoshias she came down the stairs.

The sound of a something falling over caused the girls to look for Nobuyuki. He had moved from where he was to one of the little tables and was grabbing handfuls of tissues and tucking them into his pockets. In his frantic attempt to get them he had knocked something over. This just caused three of them to laugh harder while Mihoshi just looked at him. Finally when he turned around towards her she saw that he was holding a tissue up to his nose. "Um, do you think this is too much?" She asked Washu quietly.

The dress had short sleeves and the top was form fitting with a slight bit of her exposed. The skirt flowed out from her waist, accenting it, and flowed down her legs from there. "Not at all," Ryoko told her,still laughing at Nobuyuki's antics.

Mihoshi looked back at her partner and her face soured as she imagined what he would say about this dress. Hehad spent the past several months staring at only certain parts of her. Returning her gaze to Nobuyuki she smiled softly. 'Nothing's going to spoil tonight for me;not even him,' she thought mentally in reference to her annoying partner.

Getting his body back under control,Nobuyuki rushed to Mihoshi's side and offered her his arm.'Even if she doesn't feel the same, I'm going to make this a special night for her,' he thought as he escorted her out to his car. Helping her in he nearly skipped around to his side before getting in himself. Within moments of them pulling away into the distance,Washu unfroze her partner.

Half of the trip to town was in relative silence as Nobuyuki tried desperately to think of something to say or ask that would not bring them around to how she felt for him or her partner. Some of the things that he had said earlier still worried him, but the desire to hear her voice was getting stronger. Finally he asked, "How'dyou like it in space?" Immediately he was mentally berating himself about asking such a stupid question.

"Oh, it's okay,I guess." Her voice seemed sad and he realized that his first words to her had been about space, and he had not even said hello yet.

Gathering courage from somewhere inside him he told her, "I've… I mean we've missed you." Inwardly he kicked himself yet again at how weak that sounded, but she seemed to be wearing a grin now. "You should smile more."

She grinned even more and cast him a sly glance, "Oh, you missed me?" He nodded and a blush spread across his face. The tension and uneasiness inside the car was starting to become unbearable and this was not going at all like either one of them had hoped. Neither of them could think of a way to bring up what was foremost on their minds at the moment. Taking a breath,she prepared herself to start a conversation that she hoped would help. "Do you…****do you remember when I told you about Kiyone?"

'Oh no,' he thought. 'She going to tell me she has a new partner and likes him a lot.' He gulped and very weakly answered, "Yes."

"Well, after returning to Central, my grandfather told me that Kiyone was still alive." His eyes shot open and he looked at her, confused. "I know, I thought she was gone, too, but it seems that somehow Hisato saved her and the two of them ended up in a freighter way out in the fringe systems."

"Hisato?"

"Oh,you remember me telling you about the pirate that was stealingthe ultra energy?" He just nodded in response, and she continued. "Well,Hisato was the pirate and she saved Kiyone's life! After Kiyone recovered from her injuries she worked on the freighter for some time…" Her voice turned sad and he glanced over at her. She looked so sad at this moment and he wished he knew what to do or say. "She's quit, though."

"Quit? Quit what?"

"The Galaxy Police; she resigned to stay with her family on the freighter."

He looked back and forth from her to the road for a moment. "She's got a family now?" Seeing her nod and the unshed tears, he knew that this was affecting her, too. "What do you know of her family?" He hoped that this would help, but a part of his mind picked out something else; and he thought for a moment that Mihoshi wasn't really sad about her partner but about herself.

"Well, she resigned and my grandfather granted her an early retirement. They have a child, and my grandfather also gave her sister-in-law a full pardon." Her face was starting to radiate a strange joy as she talked about her friend, and he knew that Mihoshi was truly happy about this. But there was one problem.

"Sister-in-law? Who is she, and why give her a pardon?"****Mihoshi started laughing, and between laughs told him that the pirate Hisato was Kiyone's sister-in-law through marriage as they married brothers! Nobuyuki too had to laugh at the strange twist of fate that brought an officer and a pirate into the same family. Of course,it is not that unusual of an idea, as his own son is considered a prince of a planet that his wife once nearly destroyed. "Sounds like our family," he said with a slight glint to his eye.

"Hum, yeah. It is." Mihoshi smiled, too, as he seemed to be relaxing a bit more. When he smiled,she thought he looked rather cute and rather dignified in that suit. She was about to say something when he pulled into a parking lot. At this time of day there were a fair number of cars, but the lot was not even half filled, so she was hopeful that this would be a wonderful dinner.

He parked the car and they walked the short distance to the door. He told the man just inside the door they had reservations and his name. They were then led to a booth offto the side and, as she had hoped,it was pretty empty at this moment. Though she figured even if there was standing room only she would enjoy just being with him. She had no clue that he was feeling the same way at the moment,though. They enjoyed a quiet dinner with the only interruptions being the waiter. She told him about her time in the central office and a few minor details about her patrol. After that,he told her about general life on Earth. They talked and ate for what seemed like hours and to the waiter it was too long. He thought for a while that they would never leave; but when he saw the tip, he forgot about how long they stayed.

After their dinner they went for a stroll through a nearby park. He had originally intended for them to take a carriage ride through it,but he was not sure what she would say about that, at leastright now. She noticed the carriage and was about to ask for a ride when he turned down a sidewalk leading away from it. As time passed he began to debate within himself, 'Ask her, you dolt!' To which his other side would respond, "yeah, right! Like she will say yes. She's got a new partner.' The other voice grumbled and replied, 'She hasn't said a word about him. Besides,if you never ask, you'll never know, and then what? What if she leaves again? You'll never get a second chance.' Neither he nor his other voice could debate that logic. He looked up and saw a stone bench just ahead of them. Steering her over to it he tried to build up his courage.

Motioning her to sit down he sat next to her,but still a slight distance apart. "Mihoshi, um. I have a question for you, but before I ask… Couldyou tell me something?" 

"Um, sure." She started getting nervous.

"What, um… are you…" He groaned and thought of a way to say it, but he could not think of a way to ask what was on his mind. "Why haven't you told me about your partner?" Instantly he knew he'd blown it; that was the wrong way to say it and from the annoyed look on her face it seemed to reinforce that.

Her face held a disgusted look for a moment, (if it is possible for her to look that way),then finally through clenched teeth she answered, "Because I don't want to talk about the jerk right now." She then, despite her own comment about not wanting to talk about him, went on a short rant about him. He learned all too quickly how single-minded she thought he was and through her ranting he was able to pick out that she could not stand him. Butfrom what he said earlier, it sounded like they were much closer.

'He must have lied! That's it! It has to be! He's wanting to leave and he thought that would be the fastest way!' As his mind mulled through this, a grin started to spread across his face. Mihoshi, who had continued ranting up to that point, saw his smile and calmed down suddenly. It took a few moments before his mind suddenly came back to him. Looking back at her he noticed she was looking at himworriedly, 'She'sworried about me!' He took one of her hands and calmed himself down. "I'm sorry, it's just… oh never mind what I thought. Mihoshi, since you left I've been miserable." He looked at her expectantly and he said inwardly, 'There, I said it. Nowto say the rest.' He searched her eyes a moment and he could see that she felt the same. So with a renewed hope, he continued. "I've thought a lot about it. Eversince Achika left, I've distanced myself from women,until you came along. Now, I can't keep you off my mind. Even my boss knew that I think of you all the time." As he spoke, herface turned a bright red, even redder than her usual tan. But with hearing how she felt for her partner,his fears seemed to have vanished.

"I'm not sure how you feel for me, but I have to tell you what I feel. I can't in good conscience let you get away from me again so easily. Mihoshi Kuramitsu… I love you! I have loved you for some time, though I've been too thick-headed to admit it." He looked into her eyes. She was smiling and the light in her eyes seemed to radiate out and illuminate everything. Though that was his own imagination,he did not care. But, there was still one thing left to ask. "I've thought about this a lot, Mihoshi. Willyou marry me?"

Silence reigned after he had asked. Thelight was still there but she seemed to be shocked speechless, unable to move. "I know I'm a bit older, but Ryoko's several thousand years older than Tenchi and age is nothing to them. I didn't think it would be for us either." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box. He could hear her voice catch in her throat as he opened it towards her, offering her the ring.

Slowly, a tear formed in the corner of her eye. Leaving her eye, it made its****way down her cheek almost to her jaw before he wiped it away. As his hand touched her cheek, he letit linger there for a moment as she pressed her cheek into it and smiled. The light he thought he saw from her seemed to double at that moment and, asher mind and body came back to the present,she opened her mouth to speak. Her first word was too soft to hear, but she kept repeating it over and over until he could hear it; and, even then,it took a moment before he realized what it was. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" With the final one,she lunged for him and, wrapping her arms around him,they shared their first kiss as an engaged couple.

Several of those around them frowned atsuch a reaction and a few snide comments about a man of his age kissing such a young woman were made. But no one moved past actually muttering something, as even to those casual observers it was plain that they loved each other. When they finally parted,she asked him, "Can we take that carriage ride now?" This time he was delighted to, and for the next hour they rested in the back of the carriage like young lovers as they slowly went around the park. As they rode along,she rested against him and staredat the ring he had given her. It was beautiful by Earth standards, though on****other worlds it could be called homely. But to her,it was better than anything on this world or off.

There were several questions that ran through their heads,though they dared not mention them out in the open. The first was what about her patrol? Should she continue to go into space and if she is later reassigned to another sector, what then? Was she to leave him behind or could he follow her? And did she want to leave again? The furthest thing from their minds was how much longer could they be together because of his age. By human standards, he was getting near fifty and that was a good age. But to her,that would be still pretty young.

By the time either of them had noticed, it was getting pretty late. Theywere walking beside a small lake headed back towards hiscar. "Mihoshi?"

"Yes?"

"I… I don't, um…" he realized what he was about to ask and it seemed in poor taste to invite her to his apartment in town right after asking her to marry him. The fact that they had shared the same roof for so long completely slipped past him at the moment.

She let out a big yawn."I'm getting sleepy. Don'tyou have an apartment near here?"

"You don't want to go home?" He tried to keep the surprise out of his voice though he failed.

"I just don't want to have to put up with him yet.I had to keep him locked in his room to make the trip back to here." He suddenly started laughing as she told him this and she looked at him strangely. "What?"

"Well, he said you can be very persuasive at times; nowI see why." He was laughing so hard tears threatened to stream down his face. She thought about it and began to laugh, too.

The two of them walked back to his car and made the short trip to his apartment. Though he was a bit nervous about spending time alone with her, it soon passed as he realized she wanted to spend time with him, alone. The fact that he had been wrong about her partner's comments made him happy. Then,to discover that not only did she love him but also she was now engaged to him, gave him a smile so big it just wouldn't go away. They reached his apartment about an hour later, and he suddenly realized something that almost took his smile away. His bed was not very big. Actually, the whole apartment wasn't very big.

After stepping in, he gathered some sheets and a pillow. "Mihoshi, you take the bed, I'll sleep out here."

She looked at him with a most disapproving look. "No, this is your place. Youtake the bed."

"I can't put you out here on the couch, it…" At her look,he stopped and,still with his goofy grin,he told her calmly, "I can see that we share the bed or we share the couch, right?" She just nodded her head and interestingly a strange grin appeared on her lips. "OK. Thenhow about the bed? The couch is a bit small," he offered with a cheesy grin of his own.

Now with that problem out of the way,she pointed out the next one."I guess the only thing left to decide is…who gets the shower first?"

He told her that ladies were to go first,so after showing her to the shower he went about getting ready himself. It was then that he realized she didn't bring any other clothes with her,so he dug through his clothes till he found a nightshirt and one of his robes for her to wear. Standing outside the bathroom door holding them,he was reminded of doing the same thing with Achika once. While they did not spend their first night together,it was about a month before their wedding and they had taken a trip out of town. One of their bags, which happened to be the one with her clothes, had been lost,so he had to share his with her until they found the lost luggage. Luckily it was turned in the next day, as one of the bellboys had gotten it mixed in with someone else's.

The door opened suddenly and he immediately straightened. "Hey,Nobuy…" she called, then stopped seeing him right there. "Oh, sorry, um, do you…" He handed her the clothes in his hand and she thanked him before closing the door. His hand was still slightly wet from where her hand had touched and he realized that she had not toweled off yet. She had only opened the door part way, but he could see her tanned form in the bathroom mirror rather well for that brief moment. He hurried off to get ready for his shower and he knew this was not going to be one of those nights that he gets to sleep early.

Passing the phone, he saw he had a few new messages. Pressing the play button he heard his boss' voice. "Oh, Nobuyuki, did you forget something today? I have your plans, your briefcase and your jacket here in my office. If you want to see them again you had better propose to that girl and bring me a picture of her. I think I have a right to see who is on your mind when it is supposed to be on work." He could hear his boss laughing over this and even he began to laugh at his boss' antics.

The next message was from his son who happened to have finally gotten home."Dad, this guy at the house is going to be sleeping on the couch. Soif you come home tonight,keep it quiet."

"Yeah, ifhe comes home!" The voice in the background was Ryoko's; he'd stake his life on it.

"Ryoko! Well, um… yeah. Anyway, Dad,goodnight."

"Tell Mihoshi goodnight for us, too!" he heard Ryo-Ohki say.

"Ya might give her a kiss goodnight, too;she'd enjoy it!"

"Ryoko!"

There was a good bit of laughing before the phone finally hung up.

The last message almost had him worried though; it was his father-in-law."Nobuyuki. You will meet me by Funaho, my tree, tomorrow around noon. Come alone."

That was what worried him the most. Hewas to meet him tomorrow, but he had to be at work tomorrow as well. He played the message again and he knew that with his father-in-law's tone there was not a chance of getting out of it. Picking up his phone he called his boss'****phone to leave him a message that he would not be in tomorrow. Whathe did not expect was to hear a message on the greeting personally for him. "This is Henzo Gemondo, Senior Supervisor, please leave me a message if you are not Nobuyuki. If this is you, Nobuyuki,I'm giving you a few days off to get your personal affairs in order and you are to return to work on Monday. So you had better come to work ready to work hard, and don't forget my picture!" He could hear his boss laughing, and he nearly dropped the phone when it beeped for him to leave a message. Hastily he hung up the phone and grinned.

'I don't have to go to work tomorrow!' When Mihoshi came out of the bathroom he grabbed her in a big hug and placed a kiss on her lips. The move was sudden and she almost screamed, but then calmed down and returned the kiss. Once he realized what he was doing he nearly dropped her, but to his surprise and joy she held not only on to him but the kiss as well. When she finally pulled away from him, they were both a little flushed. Somehow, he****told her not only about being off work for the rest of the week, but also about the other calls, including having to meet his father-in-law. 

"That means we have to go back?" She replied sadly. He looked at her and realized she was not really looking forward to going back, as she seemed to be reluctant to leave here.

"You don't want to go?"

"I, well… you see…." As she stumbled over her words, he just held her close.

"Don't worry about him, or it. At least not for tonight." She nodded against him then pulled away as he moved to the bathroom to take his shower. While in the shower he took the coldest shower, his body could stand, as he knew that with her lying in bed beside him he wouldn't get much sleep. 'Perhaps when she's asleep I should move to the couch?' He half chuckled and realized that if he did that she would be upset with him in the morning. Besides,he had picked out the couch to be comfortable to sit in, but the times he slept in it, he was sore the next day.

Grinning a stupid grin, he prepared for a restless night, as he was to sleep beside Mihoshi. Hefound out later that it would be a very restful night; not only did he sleep beside her, but she held on to him as she slept. For so long she had slept alone; she made sure to enjoy having someone beside her.


	7. Katsuhito Learns to Live Again.

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Katsuhito Learns to Live Again.

This is a continuation of "Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending." This takes place over twenty years after "Nobuyuki's Pain and Joy." I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes, as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me.

*****

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Katsuhito Learns to Live Again.

It has been well over twenty years since that day. And he found it strange that he now felt so lonely. Reaching back in his memory he remembered the day he was first joined. That day seemed like more than a lifetime ago, which in fact it should be. Considering when he was first joined was over eight-hundred-years ago in all honesty it could be considered several lifetimes. At least according to those that inhabited the planet he has called home for so long. Born of Jurai, but not of Jurai; that's what so many had called him. His home had been among the stars long enough for him to learn the art of sword fighting as he was, and still is by all accounts the son of the Azusa.

His father had married an off-worlder as she was called and had a son, by the sheer act of marrying Funaho he went against traditions that went back thousands of years. As the boy grew up on Jurai he became aware of the way people felt about him and he took it as a challenge to show them they were wrong. Fate though handed him something very different. A space pirate attacked him home and killed many in the process of destroying his home and planet. The shoulders were unable to push her away, but something in him told him that he could. And he did. He fought the pirate and was able to force her off his home, but that wasn't good enough. He had to make her pay for it, make her pay for destroying his home and killing so many.

Weather it was fate or just some odd chance he chased the pirate across the stars to this planet called Earth. Here is where it all started, here is where his father had fallen in love with a woman and as some said, cursed Jurai by having a son with her. Here he was able to defeat the mighty Ryoko, the space pirate that could case the weak to fall just at her name alone. But he fought her and won. At least he thought he did, for it was after he took away her power and she was just a girl before him did he himself fall. Not for love or being wounded, but his heart felt pity. She cried and begged him to take her life and after he had stabbed her several times and she did not die, he began to look at his own hands.

His hands were stained with blood, her blood. Several times he cursed her and sliced into her with his sword, but she refused to die. Strangely, she seemed to ask for more. If it had not been for the awakening of something inside him, he would have thought she enjoyed pain. In fact, he realized that she asked for more because she knew she was beaten and she wanted to suffer for all the wrongs that she had done. She wanted to die. Bringing up his sword for one final stroke as she lay before him weeping he fell to his knees and the sword fell from his hands. "I can't." He told her. It was shortly after that moment that they both fell unconscious.

He was revived later aboard his craft. Ryoko had been put in one of the cells as well but she was unconscious still, but alive. Praying to Tsunami gave him little peace, as he knew that even with this victory people would not accept him and then he realized that if he were to let her go, then he would be an outcast or worse. The people barely tolerate his mother and if he let Ryoko go then the people would demand his life for hers. But he could not kill her; something prevented him from doing it. 'No one would understand,' he told the sleeping Ryoko. It was then that his tree came up with the plans and he set about creating a holding are for Ryoko.

At first, he was going to stay on Earth to watch her to make sure that nothing could set her free. It was during this first hundred years that he fell in love with this planet. With his sword sealing the pirate and providing her enough energy to live he did not know how long he would live as well. Making plans he decided to live off the land for a time, but then he became aware that her gems were keeping his tree and him alive as well as her. Using the damaged and discarded pieces of his ship, he built a home for himself after seeing the way the natives built their homes. His tree settled into a home of sorts too. A new land and a new hope. Here he was just Yosho, and not an outcast, a bastard of Jurai.

For the fist few years he said he was staying, only to make sure no one released Ryoko. But then it became more. He had more freedom, more everything. No one was forcing him to do his studies and no one was trying to force protocol and royalty down his throat. But most of all there was peace. Years wore on and many came to the shrine to pray as he found it easier to fit in among the people saying he was a priest of sorts. This forced him to learn the local customs and using more of his craft he designed and built the shrine that still stands today. Though he no longer stands watch over Ryoko, her cave is still there.

Sitting up and moving over to the window, he looked out. In the courtyard, he could see his grandson greeting visitors along with his wife, the space pirate Ryoko as they tended the shrine. Gone were the wild days where she would destroy planets and homes, now she was a homemaker herself. In the years to follow the time that Tenchi released Ryoko the shrine priest was able to learn many more things about the pirate, things that was only hinted at in his dreams. In his dreams all those years, he kept seeing a man with white hair that would constantly beat Ryoko. It was from these dreams that Yosho learned the truth, Ryoko was helpless against Kagato and he forced her to do all those things so long ago. When he discovered that he felt guilty for what he had done to her. But that was in the past and he could not change it.

Instead, he did his best to make a better future for his grandson and granddaughters. He half chuckled as he remembered how Tenchi married Ryoko and then later married Ryo-Ohki as well. That was a surprise to everyone but was accepted gladly. It was easy to see that he loved them both. And now the aging Yosho had one other reason to be happy. The dreaded space pirate and demon Ryoko, who was now not only a member of the Royal Family of the planet she nearly destroyed. But she was also a mother, as about five years ago his great granddaughter, Rei Masaki was brought into this world from the love that Tenchi and Ryoko had.

Moving away from the window the old priest looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Now the old man that looked back on him was not a disguise or a clever ruse, but it was real. Though he did not look quite as old as before he also did not look that young now either. After looking at his reflection, he looked out the bathroom window out to where his space tree used to be, then up to the sky. 'Take care of them Funaho.' Though he could no longer feel the space tree, he knew that it would take care of them. Moving back to his office to go over more of his papers, he let his mind wander for the moment.

It was many years ago that he talked to Nobuyuki in front of Funaho. Nobuyuki had talked to Washu before while Mihoshi was still in space, and she talked to Katsuhito so that both knew about his son-in-laws concerns about growing old. He had thought about it much himself and after talking to him that day it was decided that Nobuyuki would go through the bonding with Funaho. His tree was willing though it was saddened to part with Katsuhito, but it knew his heart. They kept it silent until the wedding and then right after the wedding the bonding was held. He began chuckling as he recalled how Mihoshi threatened his life as that left Nobuyuki to weak to do anything other than sleep on their honeymoon.

"Hay old man!" He looked up to see Ryoko there at the door. "Mom wants to talk to ya, but she wants to know if you want her to come up here or will you go down there?"

"Yes, I'll go down there." He got up from his small desk and proceeded to go down the many stairs to the house and then into the house. He stopped along the way when he saw Ryo-Ohki playing with Rei on the couch. The child's spiky mane of hair suggested who her mother was though her hair was a dark brown instead of cyan. He watched them for a moment and he smiled. He suddenly remembered a time that did not seem to long ago when Ryo-Ohki was not very happy to be around a baby. After the girl was born Washu had shown them all how to properly care for a child, the two girls quickly learned, and they loved taking care of Rei almost as much as they loved picking on Tenchi.

There was something else that he felt for the girl Ryo-Ohki. He felt pity, for even now, as he watched Ryo-Ohki play with the child he could see a strange pain there. She was not human though she felt as human as the others around her. And since she was not human, she could not have children. When Ryoko became pregnant, it had taken him and Washu some time to explain it to her. Even after it was explained, it took some time to explain to her why she could not have a child as well. Washu had tried explaining it saying that the child could be born from her like Ryoko's or born from an egg like Ryo-Ohki was before.

Shaking his head he opened the door to Washu's lab, and approached the eccentric scientist. "Ah hello there Katsuhito!" 

"Hello Washu, what is it that you needed?"

"Straight to the point I see," she said while snickering. "It's just this." She hit a switch and a video screen popped up with Nobuyuki & Mihoshi's face on it. 

"Ah so they finally sent us a message," he chuckled then prodded Washu to play it. 

"Hello there Miss Washu!" they both said.

Nobuyuki began speaking and it was apparent he was a little nervous about something, but he was extremely happy. "Miss Washu, would you share this with my father in law and then with everyone else? Good thanks. Well we've been traveling through space and have been enjoying it a lot. Oh thanks for the ID cards and the credit chip. We could have been in trouble without them. Anyway we have an announcement to make!"

"I'm pregnant!" Mihoshi nearly screamed causing both viewers to cover their ears. She stepped back from the video to show not only her head and shoulders but now from the waist up. She had a slight bulge to her stomach and was rubbing it tenderly.

"Again?" he asked turning to Washu, who just nodded. This would make their third child. Tenchiro was their oldest and was born before their first anniversary which meant that at the time of the wedding she had to have been with child, though no one said a word about it. As their first son grew, Mihoshi became pregnant again with their second son Nabauri and now their third. Washu just looked at Mihoshi indignantly as some how Mihoshi had the easiest of births and barely felt any pain whatsoever. This of coarse earned grumbles from not only Washu, but her two daughters as well.

"I know you're probably wondering why it took us so long to find out, but in truth we had guessed she was for a while. Funaho had been telling me in my dreams too that she though Mihoshi was as well, so I finally found a place…"

"With my help!" She was beaming and began to nearly dance before Nobuyuki gathered her in his arms from behind so he could place his hands on her stomach as well.

"Yes, with Mihoshi's help we found a place and she was tested. And, well you know the rest!" He paused for a moment as he thought of what he wanted to say next. "Dad, I wanted to say thank you again for Funaho, she misses you but she keeps remembering your heart. I don't know how to thank you enough."

"We went to visit my grandfather and I've formally resigned," piped in Mihoshi trying to change the subject to give her husband time to clear his thoughts. "He wasn't surprised though, but he did want to talk to Nobuyuki a lot. Oh and my old partner has finally been reinstated back to his old position."

Nobuyuki laughed and added, "Yea it seems that when Central found out about his actions in space they were going to court-martial him, but with a plea from Mihoshi they just busted him back to the academy and made him go through it again."

Katsuhito and Washu both laughed over that, they were both happy about the changes, and the recording lasted for a mew more minutes before it paused. "Now Katsuhito this is where it stopped earlier. I've seen up to this point and it won't let me go any further." 

"Oh, and why is that?"

She pointed to the screen and it had their names on it along with a message saying it needed a voiceprint to continue. "I've tried everything I can think of to get around it but it won't let me and…"

"Why should it? Funaho knows my voice and if it is for me I should think I need to be the one to hear it right?"

"Oops, okay." She suddenly realized that she had said that out loud. Curiosity was pushing her to find out so she really couldn't help herself, and plus she felt that it was in part about her so she wanted to know what it was first. Looking back at him, she noticed that he was just looking at the screen not moving or saying anything to get it to play. "Well? Aren't you gonna say something?" 

He cast a glance at her then smiled. "Something." He chuckled and the video began playing again.

"Dad, I have a question for you? Funaho has known your heart for some time, but you have never expressed your feelings why? She thinks you're still a bit shy, and yes she showed me some of her memories of when you were younger." Katsuhito visibly shook at the memories himself. "But she's worried about you, and after getting her to explain it to me I am too. How come you've never told her how you felt? After sharing her memories of you we're starting to think that you'd prefer death to expressing your feelings again."

"No! Stop!" Katsuhito suddenly spoke but the video continued undaunted while Washu looked at him strangely.

"Dad, we just want you to be happy. You've given me Funaho to extend my life so I could be with Mihoshi, and in doing that, you were able to fulfil Funaho's desire to return to space. We just want you to be happy. Please dad, just tell her how you feel." Nobuyuki stopped as he gathered Mihoshi in his arms again. "Please tell everyone we said hello and the good news as well. We will return to Earth, but it won't be until after the baby's born."

Both said their good-bye's as Washu watched in stunned silence how Katsuhito changed from the stern silent priest to a helpless emotional person for a moment. As the video ended, he was pulling himself together. "Katsuhito?" She called pensively not knowing what he would do next.

He knew what his son is law was refereeing to, as he had tried to keep it a secret for a while and finally he nearly forgot about it altogether. But apparently, Funaho was not about to let it stay forgotten. His fists were clenched in anger, but not at them. 'They are only trying to help, but why this, and why now?' It took several minuets before he was aware that someone was calling his name and just a moment longer to realize that she was worried about him. 

"Katsuhito, what's wrong?" He looked over at her and she recoiled from him at his stern face.

Softening his face he thought about it, 'If I tell her then all I have done is made useless, but I cannot rightly tell her nothing. 

"What were they talking about and tell who your feelings? Do you still love Ayeka?"

He scoffed at that and told her, "No this has nothing to do with her. I do love Ayeka, but she is my little sister. I've watched over her for many long years and when she was just a child, I held her in my arms when she cried. She knows how I feel about her."

"Then it's Sasami? Or… You don't still have feelings for Ryoko do you?" She was surprised over this and things running through her mind at the moment pointed to any number of things, unfortunately all were wrong.

A laugh escaped him as he turned to Washu. "When I left Sasami was very young and I had barely been able to spend any time with her. I was being taught not only about life in the court but of fighting as well. And as for your daughter I have spent many restless nights hoping to someday find a way to apologize." 

"So it is her!" Washu crowed.

"You are wrong," he said with a smile, "I only wish to apologize, but I think Tenchi has made up for all the wrongs she has suffered. I would only be a reminder of that past."

"Then who are they talking about!" She was getting exasperated and just a little annoyed that he wasn't telling her what she wanted to know and even more so that she could not guess.

"Hello Little Washu!" Both Washu and Katsuhito turned to see three intruders, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ryo-Ohki and beside them trotted Rei. Her hair seemingly bouncing as she hopped from one foot to the other as her parents came to a stop.

"Hello there," Washu said cheerily not letting them know something was wrong, "what can I do for you?'

"We're here to fight!" Ryoko said happily.

"Not for fighting, practicing," corrected Ryo-Ohki.

"Whatever, I just get to blow things up!" Ryoko laughed as she made her way to the room Washu had set up for their practicing. She had constructed it with Tsunami's help for inside their weapons and powers were contained. Even Tenchi's Light Hawk Wing's were unable to penetrate the walls. Tsunami had been reluctant to build such a place as if word was ever to et out that the Light Hawk Wing's could be contained then it might be the end of Jurai's power. However, at Tenchi's urging and Washu's pleading she relented. Washu hated calling it a room, as it is a pocket dimension and she loved to tell them every scientific term she could use to describe it. However, no matter how she described it they insisted on calling it a room or in some cases a training room.

Since she created this room, the three of them had practiced their sword fighting, this time with their energy weapons and energy blasts. While they fought as Ryoko called it Washu would watch over Rei and would tutor her in some of her studies. Washu had declared that no member of her family would grow up thinking that space travel was a fantasy like the earth schools taught. So even now she was being taught things that no earth student would ever know. What surprised them all was that the child was able to retain anything she was taught and more. Katsuhito had laughed when Washu had announced; 'it's because of her superior genes from my side that make her so smart!' Tenchi too had started being tutored by her after his earth schooling was over. He was joined with his wives and the three of them soon had Washu running ragged trying to find anything to keep them occupied. Many times she had suggested that they go to the Royal Science Academy where they would get more structured schooling only to have one of them taunt her by saying, 'what's wrong? Can't you handle us?'

As soon as Washu left to take them to the training room Katsuhito left the lab and returned to the normal world. He made his way up the stairs and then turned aside to the spot that used to hold his space tree, Funaho. Kneeling beside the empty pond, he began to think as he had for so long. 'Funaho, why did you do this? I am old and I'm tired. I may have once held the light of love but that was long ago.' In his mind, he could still remember what his tree had told him, 'As long as your heart aches you can find love and happiness. The day your heart stops aching then you, stop loving and you stop living.'

He knew what she meant by that, though it had taken him quite some time to understand. When you are young your heart aches to play, then later your heart aches to be with someone. And still later, your heart aches over something else entirely. It is when the heart stop is when it stops aching. But now his heart ached over two things. He was tired and felt too old to continue while he also ached to love and to live yet again.

"Yosho."

He looked up to see Tsunami before him on the water. Bowing low he asked, "What can I do for you?"

"I have asked Funaho to reveal your heart to Nobuyuki, it is by my wishes that he knows and it is his wish to see you happy again that moved his hand in this."

"But why? I have lived long enough and I'm ready to return to my wife. We have been separated for too long."

"And what of Nobuyuki? Has he not been separated from his first wife? Should he have not been given a second chance to learn to live again?"

"But I am old, and tired of such things."

"Only because you allow yourself to be. Now Yosho, Sasami has asked me to give you two more bits of advice to add to the long list of things you have learned over your life. The first is to never argue with a woman as you will always loose, and the second is never argue with a goddess that can see your heart plainer than you can." Before he could respond, the goddess was gone.

"Never argue with a woman, my wife used to say that too." He chuckled as he remembered many of the tings that she used to say that would bring a smile to his face.

When Tenchi had heard about Mihoshi's first pregnancy he was a bit shaken, but he came around to the idea that he was going to be a brother to someone. So, when he found out about her being pregnant again he gave it little thought though he thought it strange that his child would be older than his brother would. Tenchi and his grandfather had a good laugh over that later that evening and they enjoyed the idea of there being another Masaki, even if this one would be born in the stars. "Tenchi, this will be a special event. This will be the first Masaki born in space." The two then toasted Nobuyuki's, Mihoshi's and the baby's health over some sake. Mihoshi's first child had been born on Earth while the second was born on Jurai because Funaho had not been ready for space travel then.

Days passed slowly and each day Washu would ask him about Nobuyuki's message and each time he would find a way out of it. The rest of the family watched the exchange and thought it funny, but they did not understand the full meaning behind it. But also as time passed it seemed to wear on Ryo-Ohki and she became more irritable than normal. Finally, he called her to his office for some tea and to find out what was wrong. When she arrived her thoughts were hidden and her face guarded, so he though he might have to try hard to pry it out of her but as the doors closed and before the first cup was poured she burst into tears.

"Why? Why can't I have a child too? Do I just have to sit by and watch as she gets to have all the kids?"

Needless to say he was quite taken by surprise at her outburst, but not the questions. "Ryo-Ohki, there are several reasons for it."

"I know. Washu keeps shoving them down my throat, every time. But why would that be so bad? So, what if my child was born in an egg? I… I want to have a child with him too." Her face was downcast as tears flowed freely. Over the years, she had learned how to hide her emotions for a short time, but she had never been good at handling pain, especially this amount.

"Tell me, have you talked to him about it? What has he said?" She would have looked down further if it was possible but she just muffled a reply. When he asked her to repeat it she looked up slightly, told him that she was scared to talk to him about it, and embarrassed. "You should not feel that way…"

"Yea but I do!"

"I know, you need to talk to him, I know Tenchi cares for you and if you were just to talk to him he would be understanding. Also I don't think is would be so bad, but tell me do you want a child because you're jealous?"

She looked up at him with indignation and anger that caused him to lean back. "I love them both and I know what you're thinking. You think that Ryoko uses that to show she's better than me or that he loves me more, well you're wrong." She began to cry as she continued, "I was there… I was there when she called for her mommy; I was there when she called for her daddy. They came running and embraced her. The love that I could feel from them had flooded me with new emotions and feelings."

"So you want what they felt?"

She nodded her head as if she were admitting to a murder. "I want someone to call me mom, I want to be a mom, not just a sitter or a aunt. I never had a mom; I never had anything other than a creator and a master. Now I have friends, love, and a home. Is, it wrong to want more?"

"You sound ashamed about this?"

"Shouldn't I be? After all I have got I still want more."

"I do not believe it is wrong. You love him and her and your heart has expanded to include their child. I do not think it's wrong to want a child. I do question your motives though. Have you though of how the world will look at your child? What if is looks like a cabbit and not human at all? And What if it is some strange mix…" A hand on his throat silenced his voice as she lifted him effortlessly off the ground.

"It as you say will be my child and his. If no one else loves it, I will. I don't care what it would look like."

"Ryo-Ohki?" She suddenly turned to see Tenchi there by the door. She dropped Katsuhito and stepped back in fear and shame. "Ryo-Ohki, come here please." She looked up to his eyes, there were not cold or cruel but filled with love and compassion. They compelled her to come closer. Slowly she stepped forward to him. When she was close enough, he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Is this what you want? To have a child?" Again she nodded her head, but she no longer looked at his face.

"Tenchi, now is a time for decision, I do not know how long you have been listening or what all you have heard, but her heart is right, though her feelings are confused." He spoke while rubbing his neck where she had held him.

"Thanks grandfather. Though, I have only been here long enough to see her grab you. Ryoko was scared when she felt something strange from Ryo-Ohki." He then turned his attention to the girl in his arms. "I did not know this is what you wanted. After Washu's explanation you seemed dead set against it."

"I thought you didn't want one from me?" The tears and sadness in her voice were unmistakable.

"No, and like you said it will be our child, if no one else loves it we will." She looked up at him confused and wondering, but soon it gave way to a large smile. "Yes, I would be happy to be the father of your child, though I am worried about the future we will face it together."

"That's right!" Suddenly the two of them were caught in a hug from Ryoko as she materialized into the room. As the three of them hugged, Katsuhito slipped out of the room to think.

From the other room, he could still hear them talking and it still amazed him how his grandson had changed over the years. Before he made his choice, he had been very nervous about love and especially anything having to do with sex. But he was in the other room just a moment ago talking about having a child with someone and during the whole time he never blushed or even got a nosebleed. 'Things sure have changed.'

Because of Ryo-Ohki's decision to have a child with Tenchi, Washu was kept busy in her lab and was not able to get out as much as she wanted. This also meant that she was not able to ask him about the message from Nobuyuki. He found it amazing that with her being such a scientific genius she did not make the connection that it was her his son in law had been talking about. 'Why can't they leave me alone about it,' he grumbled. But each time he avoided it, she had been around asking him about it or there was something nearby that reminded him of it.

Even he was unsure when these feelings first hit; maybe it was that first time she had come to dinner in her adult form or during one of their many talks together. But one thing was sure; the strange and eccentric scientist had unknowingly touched his heart. Funaho had been the one to first suggest that he take her out on a date, but he had turned it down. At the time, he had been trying to keep a low profile while teaching Tenchi. He kept trying to say he was too old to get involved in something like that again, but then again she was over twenty thousand years old. Slowly every one of his arguments had been reduced to just, "I can't go through that again."

In some ways, he envied Nobuyuki as he has found another love. He knew how much he had loved Achika and he had seen them together often enough. After her death, Katsuhito was sure it would be the end of him, but somehow he managed to live on. And now he was with another and if all went well then they would be together for a thousand years or more instead of maybe twenty, if he had remained on Earth.

It was nearly three weeks since they received the message from Nobuyuki about Mihoshi and tonight like the nights before he could get no rest. At first, he thought it was just from the shock or surprise, but lately he's been wondering about that. Being Juraian, he will still live many more years as long as he takes care of himself, but what of his heart? Nobuyuki had managed to find love and live again and Funaho had thought that he could too, otherwise she would not have said anything about it. Even Nobuyuki had told him before, "I'm old and my heart aches for the past, and now for the future. But I couldn't tell her. Now she's gone and I may never get to tell her. I let too much time pass, I let happiness slip away from me again."

The time that he spoke of would have been lost if not for Washu. She had started sending requests for Mihoshi to return to her patrol and maybe to earth, but permission had to come from Jurai and not her. So messages were sent to Jurai but a response was slow in coming. Nobuyuki almost gave up hope as none other than Mihoshi turned down many of the requests! But he had to keep trying and to talk to her just once more and so he kept at it until she returned. 'And the rest is history,' he thought while he laughed. 'Have I let too much time slip between us? Have I lost my chance?' Turning to his stack of papers he went through them but stopped as one had his handwriting, but he did not remember writing it. "You loose all chance when you give up and you keep a chance while you still believe." He spoke the words aloud to himself as he pondered them. It was not his best work and yet he did not even remember writing it.

"I see you're ever the optimist." He looked up to see Washu at the door.

"Hello Little Washu, what may I ask brings you to the shrine tonight?"

"Oh the same thing that's kept me coming up here for the past few weeks. Tell me, who was Nobuyuki talking about?"

"You don't give up do you?"

"Nope!" She laughed and then reminded him, "I have to know everything and like you just said 'You loose all chance when you give up,' well I don't give up easily! So tell me!"

He just looked back at her, realized the truth in his words, and not only that, but he has grown lonely since loosing Funaho. With all the love around him, many would have thought this was only a matter of time, as it was bound to happen. He has spent many nights debating things with Washu over the years and only now did he realize that his feelings for her had changed despite his efforts to stifle them. "Do you really wish to know?" She just nodded her head and stood defiantly before him. "Very well if you must know it is you." He spoke in a serious tone and directed his gaze at her to make sure she understood.

"Ha!" She crowed while jumping up and down pointing a finger at him. "I knew you had feelings for her! Oh just wait till I…." Her voice stopped suddenly as did her whole body, as she was so sure she knew who it was that he still had feelings for. But it was not who she thought, in fact he said it was her! She stood up straight suddenly. "Oh no you don't! You're not going to do that; you're not going to play with my feelings. No! I won't let you…." She turned and ran away and before he could move to his feet, he lost the sound of her running.

"She's used her portal," he said sadly and then sat down again. 'What am I to do? I've finally told her and she ran away.' Reaching down almost absent-mindedly he picked up a stack of papers and began to tap them on the table trying to get them into a neater stack. The top paper got his attention and he read the words again, 'You loose all chance when you give up…' He looked back at the door and setting the papers aside he headed out of his office. Before his thoughts caught up to where he was going, he was already halfway down the stairs. 'What am I going to do now? I am not sure what I feel or even what to say.'

For the rest of the day and well into the night, he thought about what he would do. He felt he was too old to fall in love again but something burned in his heart that he had neglected for a long time. This feeling he had pushed down and put aside so many times before, but now it would not be pushed aside. The sight of Washu running out of his office nearly in tears had unlocked something that he had kept buried, and right now, he felt afraid. Never before had he felt this scared, even when he raced off to face Ryoko, he had not felt this afraid. Anything and everything he could think of he did to push away this feeling. It was not until nearly midnight that he realized the time. Looking back over his papers he found that he had done nothing for the past several hours, other than straighten them over and over again.

Pushing the papers away he went to his room and tried to rest, but his thoughts would not give him peace and sleep would not come to him that night. Lying in bed, he watched the clock tick off the seconds then minutes and finally hours until the light of morning began to brighten the room. With a heavy sigh he left his bed and began to get things ready for the day. Unfortunately, his concentration was a stranger to him while he thought of yesterday. He realized after attempting to go through one of his kata's that he had to see Washu. The attempted kata had left him with a good bruise where he had miss-stepped and then mishandled the bokken.

Sighing he resigned himself to the task of talking about his thoughts and feelings, though he dreaded actually trying to express them. What's worse than just talking about them was to who he had to talk to, because he had told her that he had been hiding feelings for her, and she ran off. He was not sure exactly why she had done that and it worried him that she did not feel the same. When he entered the house, he made his way for Washu's lab door, but on the way, he could hear voices in the kitchen.

"I really don't know why or how Ryo-Ohki," Tenchi said,

"Yea it's not like we planned it, but it just happened," added Ryoko,

"I know, it's just that… it's just that you two seem so close because of it, and I was just wondering what it's like." She seemed sad but not really upset over it. Katsuhito at this point was not sure what they were talking about until she added more. "I was just wondering that since you have a gem that allows us to talk why can't we do the same for Tenchi and me?"

"I don't see why not," he heard Tenchi say. "Truthfully I wondered when or if you'd want to do something like that before." The girl nearly squealed to which Ryoko just laughed and Tenchi added, "It's not really fair that we have a link and I don't have one with you yet, but I was afraid that you'd not want one."

Katsuhito chucked at this and opened the door to Washu's lab. He was surprised and relieved to find that it still was connected to her lab. Proceeding inward, he was surprised to find a sunny and bright atmosphere along with a small stream that went over a fall. There beside the stream was Washu typing away at her computer in her child form, but once the door closed she stopped, but did not turn to him. 'Now what?' He told himself.

Without even turning around she addressed him, though her voice remained stable and monotone. "Ah Lord Katsuhito, what may I do for you?"

"I need to speak to you," he told her while trying to figure out what he was going to say.

"Is there a problem or a hole that needs fixing?" She remained distant using the same voice.

"Yes there is a problem." He steadied himself for what he would do or say next. He knew that there was a problem and that it needed to be fixed, but how would be another story.

With her back still to him she tensed up and asked, "Ok which one destroyed a wall and where is it?"

"It has nothing to do with a wall, well not one of those walls." She remained quiet and still faced away from him. He approached her placed a hand on her shoulder. The move caused her to jump slightly, but she still would not face him. "I, Washu I…" He turned her towards him and that is when he noticed her red eyes. The tear streaks evident on her normally cheerful face. "I never meant to hurt you," he said in a hushed whisper.

She finally looked up at him, and her normally joyous expression was lost. All he could see were years of pain and hurt, hurt that he had brought back somehow. Kneeling before her he looked into her hurt, devastated eyes, and asked, "What did I do? I never wanted to hurt you."

He head just nodded as she tried to keep from looking directly at him. "You… you didn't know. I never told you."

"Told me what, please would you tell me now?"

Lowering her head she began her tale, she told him of how she had fallen in love once, and how they were happy for a time. Then it all changed, his family found out about it and he left her taking their son with him. Since then, she's tried to keep everyone away from her, but then she started having feelings for someone again. At first, it started slow and he eventually won her over, but it didn't last. Then he not only betrayed those feelings but he imprisoned her and kidnapped Ryoko as well.

"Kagato?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, at one time I thought he cared for me, but it was all a lie." She then finally looked him in the eyes and he could see the deep hurts she had suffered that she tried to keep hidden. "So when Nobuyuki said you had feelings for someone I thought of everyone else, but me. I don't want to feel that again. I can't go through that again." Unshed tears from thousands of years ago came to the surface at once and she began to cry, more heavily than she wanted to and especially in front of him. Katsuhito just gathered her in his arms and held her as she cried.

Ryoko phased in for a moment then saw that Katsuhito was taking care of her she left without saying a word. But the look she gave him plainly said that he had better take care of her. He acknowledged her look and her meaning but he refused to take his attention far away from the woman in his arms. She had been in her child form when he entered, but as she spoke her form changed to that of a woman. More importantly, a woman that appeared to be older than she had shown herself to Tenchi once.

The two stood for some time as she cried. He continued to hold her and would occasionally rub her back or anything else he could think of to sooth her. It finally started to make sense to him, why she was so scared and why she began crying. Twice before she allowed herself to love someone and both times it ended horribly for her. Since those times she had cut off those feelings and would not allow herself to feel that way towards anyone. Even with Ryoko her relationship was strained and he understood finally why she acted so cold to Ryoko before. She didn't want to show emotion, to show love, as she was afraid. The greatest scientific genius in the universe was afraid of being hurt.

A few tears came to his eyes as well as he came to understand her. The two were alike in many ways, ways that he had not thought about. She was escaping the pressures of life in her experiments and hurts by her child disguise, while he had run from his duties and hid on earth as an old man. They were runners and escaped things rather than facing them. And as such they had taught their families to do the same. Tenchi and Ryoko both suffered for a long time as they followed the lead given them by Washu and himself. All had run and hid from things, which just caused more pain and hurt later.

"Washu," he started in a tone he had not used for what seemed like ages ago. "I'm sorry." She looked up at him, tears still flowing freely as his voice was filled with a warmth and tenderness that she had not heard from him before. "I've been used to hiding and running from things for too long. Funaho knew what she was doing by telling that to him."

"What…" her voice cracked and was barely audible as the tears had choked out most of her ability to speak.

"I've harbored feelings for you for some time, though I can't remember just when I felt this way. I'm still uncertain how deep the feelings are, and I've not paid enough attention to them to even tell what they are."

As he spoke she tensed up in anticipation of the worst, he was saying he felt for her and that he did not feel for her as well. This was hard for her to accept and deal with, but he still held her in a warm embrace. The feel of him holding her seemed to alleviate some of her worries, but he still had not said what was on his mind. "Do you?" She croaked out, still her voice was hard to use and forcing the words seemed to take more strain that any amount of words she used before.

One of his hands moved from her back to her cheek as he tilted her head to look at him. He held her gaze for a while before speaking again. "I don't want to hurt you, yet I don't want to lie to you. What I feel for you I have only felt a few times in my life, and each time I have been hurt as well." Slowly tears started to fall from his eyes as he remembered the past. "This… this may seem hasty, but my heart feels a love it has not felt for many years."

"Do… do you mean?" Her voice slowly returning as a hope began to build inside her. 'Does he really mean it?'

"Words are just not… they are just not able to express… to say all that I am beginning to feel again." His thumb rubbed across her lips as he tried so hard to express what he was feeling. The emotions were not new, but he's pushed them away for so long that they carried a freshness that was hard for him to express.

Finding no words good enough to explain what he was feeling, he removed his thumb from her lips and replaced it with his lips. At the moment his lips met hers it was like the confusion and weariness he's felt for so long has been lifted. Apparently, she felt it as well as she returned the kiss with much vigor and passion. Pulling away he looked at her eyes, they were now bright and a shine had come to them that seemingly erased the pain that they had so recently shown.


	8. Tsunami, Musings of a Goddess

Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Tsunami, Musings of a Goddess

This is a continuation of "Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending." Although this takes place after "Katsuhito Learns to Live Again," there are things that happen before that time. I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes, as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me.

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Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Tsunami, Musings of a Goddess

Eons, to many they are a thing of fantasy, as no one has ever survived long enough to see one. No one of the mortal class that is. But there are a very select few that have seen not only one eon but also multiples. One such being is currently thinking not of the eons past or future but of the days to come. Tsunami, the first Royal Tree, the goddess, the power of Jurai and the battle ship of Jurai sits alone thinking of what to do. In the ages past, one of her sisters forsook all that she knew and became as a mortal, but yet not a mortal. And as a mortal she had children, though not in the conventional sense of the mortals around her. For every year of her so called life in the mortal realm, her sister believed she was, and is just like them though very long lived.

Many times had her sister seen the births of stars and mortals, and many times over she's had to watch those very ones she saw born also die. As the years turned to hundreds of years then to thousands the cycle of birth and death became all too common. So much so that she lost her touch with her feelings and treated all things like an experiment. Even to the point of treating her sires or children as they are called, as if they too were experiments. For many years, Tsunami was intrigued about these people and her sister to the point that she decided to experience this herself. Her problem was that she could not leave her place or her people during this time, so a compromise was created.

During an attack on her planet, she allowed a ship to be hit and it crashed into the building where beloved children housed the Royal Tree's in. There the one she had chosen was talking to the trees. Why she was there she had thought noting of, only she had to be there. This was the part that Tsunami regretted the most. In the ages past regret was unknown to her as she had to plan things for the greater good, but this incident nearly took the life of a precious child. The fall should have killed many and in truth, none would have survived. The only reason this child did so was that it was Tsunami's choice that she live. As the child lay there in a puddle of her own, blood reaching out to the first tree and calling its name Tsunami was unmoved, though later she shed many tears over it. "Forgive me Sasami!" She had cried many times afterwards, and each time Sasami would forgive her.

The outside world lay in destruction and with her goal reached, Tsunami allowed the invader to be pushed back and forced to leave. The invader, the attacker and killer of so many also played a part in Tsunami's grand scheme, although the goddess had no direct control over her destiny. The invader was none other than the demon and Space Pirate Ryoko Hakubi, daughter to Washu Hakubi. This pirate was not driven away but led by an unknown force, yet she did not know it at the time. All to fulfil the wishes of not just one but two goddesses, the pirate had been allowed to attack and destroy much so that through her Tsunami could experience life as a mortal.

Once The pirate had been driven away Tsunami began to processes of assimilating or as others would call it merging with the child, a process that would take years to complete. The child was Sasami Jurai, Second Princess of the Jurai Royal family. The girl's older and only brother was Yosho Jurai, the First Crown Prince of Jurai and next in line to become Emperor if he would have been allowed to follow the paths set about by his parents. But Tsunami had other ideas for him, and he left Jurai to chase after a demon in a battle that he was destined to win, but never return from. Her plans had been set in motion and in order for them to work certain things had to happen and she would have a hand in many of them, such as then with Sasami. With the child near death and her mother frantically looking for her Tsunami began the process.

Her grand scheme nearly met a disastrous end when Sasami and her older sister left Jurai to search for Yosho. The process had barely started when the two children were put into a cryogenic chamber only to awaken years later. This had not been a part of her original scheme but she allowed it to happen. She allowed it so two of her goals were to be met. She had a plan for the pirate and for the prince, but this also gave her the chance to watch it unfold before her. The goddess had kept close tabs on her sister and gave her little pushes from time to time to ensure that both of their planes were met, but she could not reveal herself to her, without seriously damaging things.

And so it was that in the years past, Kagato captured Washu and her daughter Ryoko and he forced one into prison while he forced the other to destroy. But even as he tried to destroy, Tsunami found ways to use it to her benefit. Just like his attack on Jurai, she used him to allow her to sample mortal life, without becoming one herself. Not only his attacks on planets were used later for Tsunami's good, but also his attacks on the girl Ryoko. However, she used his attacks to not further her own good, but for the good of the girl Ryoko to experience later. Her sister had been against it at first, but had agreed that the girl had to go through so much in order for things to turn out the way they wanted it to. Tsunami is the one that had the master plan that she kept secret, and only shared parts of it with her sisters. One sister took Kagato and controlled his destiny, while the other controlled that of herself and Ryoko. Tokimi, the controller or Kagato had done her job well and often times nearly brought Tsunami's grand scheme to ruin.

Sometimes it was nearly lost completely, but for some strange circumstances, all was saved. Once such change in things was the girl Mihoshi. Her past and future were effectively blocked off from Tsunami but there was something in the girl that she recognized as the handy work of one of her sisters. Another circumstance was the strange tormenting of the girl Ryoko at the hands of her mother. Tsunami had seen that in order to keep all from failing she had to take action and so while others look back on that night as a strange twist of fate, Tsunami knew better. And later the girl Sasami knew better as well, but it was not by her plans or doing, as again one of her sisters had pre-determined that this was to happen. It was strange feeling the things that the girl did and it filled her with great remorse and sadness as she looked back on all of her plans and she could name each and every one of the mortals that had died to fulfil her purposes. Some were willing and others knew nothing of her, yet it had to happen. The thought that it did happen and it turned out well did little to comfort her at times though.

Many things she had pre-destined to happen, however there were a few things that she was surprised about and were not a part what she had originally designed. One had been the strange ship that the pirate flew against Jurai was also able to transform into a small creature of sorts then later into a young woman. That same young woman who was called Ryo-Ohki in all of her various forms also became a part of Tsunami's plans in a very unique way. The goddess had planned on the girl Ryoko having a child later with the grandson of Yosho who was named Tenchi. Together the two of there were to have a son who was to be even more powerful than his parents.

However the two did not have a son, but a daughter, and the woman Ryo-Ohki also married Tenchi and they were expecting their first child. The destiny of this child though was not revealed to the goddess no matter how hard she tried. Just like Ryoko, she could allow things to happen to them or around them so that her purposes were met, but another was controlling their destiny. Tsunami smiled, as she knew who had planned their lives, even though that very one at this moment did not know it.

There was one other that also had been affecting the lives of those in her care, but not ever would her powers allow her to see the mind of the one doing it. She knew the one, as it was unmistakable from the ages past from when the same one had down something before. That one was her sister the goddess Tokimi. Tokimi kept her mind hidden and only placed things in her families way or near them to cause them to react to it. Several times these things nearly caused all of Tsunami's plans to fail, but her family was able to pull through them. But no matter what she tried, she could not sense her sister's true intent though she knew that Tokimi was after the same thing, the child of Tenchi and Ryoko.

This child was no ordinary child but one that could be considered a god because of the powers that it would possess. Tsunami had integrated the Light Hawk into the defenses of Jurai to not only protect her people but to provide a source of everlasting power. Starting with Tenchi this power was then placed into a mortal, and thus began to change them. Already Tsunami could see that he was immortal like his wives were. However he being the first could only pull a certain amount of power before it overcame him and consumed him. Ryoko being who she was had access to the wings as well though she has to this date not discovered them, but like her husband she would not be able to handle much. Their child the second generation of the light hawk would be able to pull immensely more power, and Tsunami found it strange that she could not even guess how much power was possible. Combining Ryoko and Tenchi's powers into this one child it would be the fulfilling of the Light Hawk.

The Light Hawk was and is the ultimate in light power, or as some races called it the Supreme Being though it was no where near a god. It could not create, only protect. But this being still gave Tsunami and Sasami something to worry about. This would give it a choice over it's own destiny, even above her own which meant it could not be destroyed, or contained. She knew that this had to be what her sister was after, as this power could also be tainted and instead of protecting or giving life, it could easily take it away. Such was the contrast for the light. It can be bent but not broken though it can be tainted and turned evil.

However at this moment the child that so much rides on is cleaning her room. Rei Masaki, daughter of Tenchi and Ryoko has started growing into a young woman. She has recently turned twelve and the son of Ryo-Ohki just turned six. Even through there were some years between them Rei had taken it in stride and helped watch the boy as he grew. The fact that Ryo-Ohki had a child was an amazing feat in it self. Washu had to do a few operations and with a little cloning of parts from Ryoko, she was able to give Ryo-Ohki the ability to bear children. Just the fact that Ryoko willingly took part in this was a testament to how close the two were, and with Tenchi. Washu had explained that since Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki were both created using the Masu then only Ryoko could be used to generate the right parts needed, namely her ova and womb.

When it was explained to Ryoko what was needed she took one look at her family and said yes, no other persuasion was needed. She was nervous about being in the lab again, but for her family she would do it, and so not even a year after Ryo-Ohki had decided to have a child she was expecting one. Washu kept close tabs on her while she was not spending time with Katsuhito as the two of them had developed an interesting relationship. The two Masaki children were not only different because of their mothers, but Ryo-Ohki's daughter, Mia, had dark skin and silver hair. The child had looked human when she was born though her ears were a little longer than normal, as were her legs. With a bit of computer work Washu was able to tell that as she grew the child would be slightly taller than the rest of the family in leg height, but would remain about the same height as her mother. What could not be told was how many of their powers would the child posses.

As soon as each child became old enough, they began training with their parents and Katsuhito to hone their talents and test their abilities. Her parents, Washu and even their great grandfather Katsuhito could not even guess at what they would be capable of, and for that matter neither could Tsunami. She wanted to see their futures and destinies but for some reason, it was hidden from her. This is one of the reasons that she longed to tell her sister of her forgotten past. Sasami really wanted to tell but it was not her place to say it, nor was it the proper time, but that did not stop Sasami from asking Tsunami about it occasionally.

Shortly after Sasami's sixteenth birthday, the assimilation was complete. Tsunami was Sasami just as Sasami is Tsunami. This process also changed the princess so that she was immortal as well which meant that of those in the Masaki house only five were known to be immortal to the others in the house; Sasami, Washu, Tenchi, Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki. The others knew that their time was limited though most of them had extended lifetimes.

Nobuyuki was the only true human of the family and he was in his fifty's when he was bonded to Funaho. Those in the family even Tsunami expected him to live longer, but what they did not expect was that some of his youthfulness would return. But it has not been over twenty-five years since his bonding and he was not showing signs of getting older but younger. He actually looked about five to ten years younger than when he was bound to the tree. Tsunami had never had someone be bound to a tree at his age so she had only told them that it would increase his life span, and the fact he was looking younger took her by surprise.

"Remembering the past again sister?" The voice brought her out of her remembrances and back to the present. Tsunami looked over at the remaining sister that had yet to be revealed to anyone.

"Yes Tokimi, I feel that there are many secrets in the past that will be answered shortly."

"Ah," she closed her eyes and let her mind perceive the thoughts that Tsunami allowed. "You are wondering why some of this had to take place." She spoke more of a statement than a question so Tsunami remained silent. "The time is upon us sister, and the day of choosing is coming. Though I do not think that either of us had expected to be this way."

"True sister, the choice was to be made by Tenchi's son, not his daughter."

"Indeed, though I believe our sister has had a hand in that though I cannot see it."

"Neither can I, nor was that shared to me by her before she joined them."

"Then you believe that she is still the one." Tokimi raised a majestic brow as if to question Tsunami.

"Yes I do believe, though I have felt your hand in this matter as well."

"You perceive much young one, though I am interested in why you think it was me?"

Sasami's voice rang out clear and bright through the goddesses' form, "It's simple really! Some have their destinies and past hidden from me. But the touch on them is too much like our other sister and too ordered to truly be her. She is too chaotic to be that organized. I see that you have a hand on them though they don't know it and you're making it look like it was her."

If a goddess were capable of fuming Tokimi would be. "I see. Very well, I shall tell you. No better, yet I will show you. Look back on the girl Mihoshi."

"But sister her past and destiny have been…" She stopped suddenly as realization dawned on her.

"I have removed the block on her, you may examine her now." Tsunami and Sasami looked at the Girl Mihoshi, they could see her life and her experiences and it was apparent that Tokimi had been molding her for quite some time. "That girl had too much intelligence from her great-grandmother So I had to block off her from it by giving her that I believe you called it "a bubble-head" mentality." They could now see how Tokimi had used her to make certain that Washu was released at the right time and how she used Mihoshi to make sure that no harm came to Tenchi because of Washu. Several times Washu had almost succeeded in destroying her own plans by her treatment of him. If not for Mihoshi's intervention then all might have been lost. Tsunami had never realized what would have happened if Washu had succeeded in getting that 'sample' from him.

What surprised her most about the girl Mihoshi was not just the touch that Tokimi had on her but her heritage. Mihoshi was the granddaughter of Washu's lost son. Tokimi had her hand on the life of Washu's husband, so that at the appointed time he left her taking the child. The child grew and had the intelligence of his mother and her long life as well. Each successive generation though was shortened but still long lived.

"You've controlled her?"

"Not controlled, guided as you say. Having my hand directly on her would have alerted you to my presence. So, I merely guided her life and experiences. With her partner, they chased another I touched the Pirate Hisato. When she had served her purpose I released my touch and she rescued Kiyone and the two of them now live without the knowledge of what part they played for me."

"Have you released them all completely?"

"Why sister I am shocked." She said in mock hurt, which surprised Sasami. "I have released them, but I still hold claim to them. If they are needed, again I shall once more use them. But I fear I have told you too much, so I must be going." With that the goddess Tokimi left, but it left Sasami and Tsunami with more questions.

"How could she have controlled them without me knowing especially since they had been so close?" She asked herself. Not coming up with an answer she decided to just watch things closer as now she could clearly see everyone that had played a part in coming to this point in time. Though there were a few that still had something hidden, but Tokimi had not mentioned that she had touched them.

One was Ryo-Ohki, who at this moment was sitting on the floor with her daughter Mia in the Masaki house while Rei was busy cleaning her room while her mother looked on. Six years and one wall separated them at the moment. And though the two children were born with so much time between them, Rei really looked out for her sister. It was hard at first as she had been an only child and had the exclusive attention of her three parents, but then it all changed on her. The goddess watched with interest as the child went through several stages of jealously or envy to joy and protection.

Then in the distance she could see that Funaho had met up with a certain freighter and a reunion was being held. Mihoshi had finally found the freighter that her long lost partner lived on with her family. Until a few moments ago, the paths of Mihoshi, Kiyone and Hisato had been hidden but now she perceived much more and it troubled her some.

"Aki! Meg! Come back here now!" Bellowed Kiyone as she waited anxiously for the Juraian Vessel to dock with their ship. The ship had made contact with them about a month ago and has been making it's way towards them ever since. What unnerved her even more was that they asked specifically for her! The name of Masaki though she had not heard before so she wondered what they could possibly wants. To top it all of her daughter and her niece were just not paying attention to her again. Instead, the two of them were talking about some of the boys they had met.

"Akemi, I mean it!" She screamed again at her daughter. Out in the fringe systems it is hard to keep proper track of time but the two girls were now in their mid twenty's and giving Kiyone and her sister a hard time trying to keep them in line still.

"Oh mom, it's just a Tree ship, we haven't done anything wrong," she said with obvious disinterest.

"At least not yet," piped in Megumi with a sly grin that Kiyone immediately recognized as having the same sly qualities that her mother Hisato had.

The two of them had been dating and seeing some of the other boys on the ship, but thankfully they had not been serious about any of them, at least she hoped so. "I really don't want to know and…"

She was cut off as a voice droned over the speakers in the room. "Jurai Tree Ship Funaho has now docked and the boarding ramp has been extended. Visitors are expected to board in moments."

There were a few tense moments as footsteps were heard coming up to the air lock. The boarding ramp, the lifeline of ships in deep space provided a way for crewmen and passengers to get from one ship to another. Luckily, there is rarely any passengers on a freighter besides the crew, but that was about to change. The door opened with a hiss as a man stepped into the room with Kiyone. The first thing she heard was gasps from her daughter and niece as they took in his looks. He was not tall, but he had a broad chest and looked to be very muscular with dark black hair.

"Excuse me I am looking for Kiyone, which one of you is her?" His voice was rich and warm, and if it had not been for her having a husband already Kiyone would have loved to take this guy out on a date, even is she was over twice his age now. She stepped forward as excited whispers were heard coming from the girls behind her. "You're Kiyone?" She just nodded still unable to speak. "My mom has told me many stories about you and it's a real honor to meet you! I was asked to bring you and your family aboard."

"Huh? Mother, what do you mean and who are you?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Tenchiro Masaki, son of Nobuyuki and Mihoshi."

"Mihoshi!" She nearly screamed and suddenly she realized he had some Mihoshi's facial features and more importantly, he had her eyes. He just nodded as he motioned her to follow him. Without even a second though she raced after him. The two girls took a moment longer to realize what had happened before they too ran after Kiyone. The reunion was a teary one as Kiyone and Mihoshi were reunited after nearly thirty years of separation. Her daughter and niece though decided to spend their time getting to know Tenchiro and both were delighted to find that he was single.

Tsunami shook her head as she watched this reunion. She looked into their paths and saw that they would be spending a lot of time together. Only one thing caused her to frown over this though, and that was that Tokimi had claimed them so they were out of her grasp at the moment, though she hoped that nothing evil would come from it. Many times those that her sister had dealings with turned evil and caused a lot of destruction like Kagato. However there was one difference, with Kagato she actively used and controlled him, where these she just persuaded or pushed them in certain directions. This resulted in them keeping their own personalities, but having very little evil in them.

It was worrisome to the goddess though to think of why had Tokimi helped things along to make sure Tenchi and Ryoko had a child. She could see how Dr. Clay had been manipulated by her and how Zero was created at her command, but it was done to ensure that Ryoko and he came closer by forcing Ryoko's feelings into the open. The problem was that it worked nearly too good and the Zero unit almost failed in the goddesses mission. However, in the end it actually worked better than Tokimi had planned as Washu merged Zero and Ryoko.

Turning her attention back to Earth, she longed to tell her lost sister about her past, but the time was not yet right. Sasami though being connected to Tsunami still feared that all would be lost. One thing she did know better now was that since her sister Tokimi never took an active part in their lives then they may not have any after affects, but the reasons why she did that still were unclear. She suspected the reason is that direct involvement would taint them making them easier to detect as being in her hand, at least she hoped that was it. But Ryo-Ohki was still a mystery to her. Everything around her was blocked off from her sight. Only a few others had the ability to do that, one had just left and the other was at this moment having a rather passionate meeting with Yosho. Shaking her head, she looked to Jurai.

On Jurai Ayeka had settled into being the Empress almost right after taking her father's place. The Holy counsel had been adamant that she marries someone before becoming the Empress, but Tsunami had but a stop to that thinking rather quickly.

"Tsunami?"

"Yes Sasami?"

"Do you really have someone for her?"

"Yes, I have a plan. But she could not have come into it unless she went through the heartbreak. She has many trials and tears ahead, but she will be happy." Sasami looked with Tsunami into the future or her sister's life and it would not be long before Ayeka was to fall in love and marry someone. But he would not be a Juraian, but he would be a noble of sorts. The two of them smiled at Ayeka's future and Tsunami basked in the joy of Sasami. Though the two had long since become one they still remained separate so that they could talk to each other.

Sasami looked back towards Earth and she could see her family and friends there. They were happy and carefree now. "I wish they could stay that way."

"I know Sasami, I… I feel what you do for them. They do not know that is to come; though, I feel as you do. I wish that this did not have to happen to them." The two looked in on Rei Masaki, the first born the one who so much would depend on. But for now, the child could remain just as she was a child.

"When can we return her memories?"

"My sister's memories cannot be returned yet, but I feel… what is that Sasami, I am not used to it yet."

The princess laughed almost sadly, "It's being impatient. You may have lived for a few trillion years but I haven't."

"Oh you make me sound so old!" This time Sasami did laugh. The two had been completely connected for many years and since they were connected the Goddess Tsunami was introduced to many human traits, one of which was impatience and another was humor. These two seemed to be the most interesting to her as she got to understand how impatient Sasami was all those years ago when she would have a birthday party. Sasami would literally bounce in excitement, as she wanted so much to get into her presents. Tsunami being a goddess could have just looked at the presents and known what was in each, but it just would not have been the same.

It could have been days or weeks or possibly even months that passed, but in truth, it had been years. To one who is timeless time stops having a meaning. Sasami has grown accustomed to time seemingly flying by one moment then crawling by the next when in fact it was her focus that changed. Just as one might see things fly by on a fast moving merry-go-round if they were to keep their head looking straight out. But she wasn't looking just straight out, she was keeping her eyes focused on Tenchi and his family for short bursts and even while things seemingly flew by she was able to keep a close eye on them.

Tenchi with having become a man and a father had lost most of his old whining and whimpering ways when he practiced. He had become actually proficient in his swordplay so that his grandfather now father found it difficult to beat him. Many times, they would spar for hours and neither of them would score a hit on the other. Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki too had become very accustomed to sword fighting as well but they employed different tactics. Ryoko preferred to use two shorter blades while Tenchi used a single longer blade that he could hold with one or two hands depending on the need. Ryo-Ohki amazed them both, as she preferred to use a weapon employing two blades with the handle in the middle. Though she practiced with a wooden weapon her real weapon an energy weapon like Ryoko's but she continued to hold the center with the blades extending in both directions.

None of them would use their real weapons outside, as they preferred to use them in the room Washu provided for them. Rei after watching what her dad called cartoons had suggested to Washu that the gravity in the room be increased which that first time provided a lot of problems. However they got around it and even as Washu increased the gravity to ten time normal and beyond. Tsunami watched, as did Sasami, as the three of them became even stronger than before. Tenchi's children also became stronger as they grew.

"How much longer will we have to wait?" Sasami had learned patience though it was still fun to watch the exasperated look on the goddesses' face each time she asked. 

"Not much longer, you see the child has already become stronger than we thought, even though she has not generated the wings yet."

"Tenchi's hasn't used them much either."

"That is true, but they have not had a need for them. But he still practices with them."

"But away from everyone."

"Yes, they hold much power and could easily destroy anything, though the power is in them to create as well. He knows this and he will only allow himself to use them when there is no chance of another getting hurt."

"What about Ryoko? She should have their power too?"

"Only when she holds all of them gems, and the power is not hers, but our sister's."

Grinning the two as one looked back towards Earth, where Tenchi was enjoying some quiet time with his wives. Though there were no sounds or voices uttered the two knew that the three were deep in discussion as they normally were. It had been some time since Washu gave them a very interesting present. The three of them could now communicate mentally or as others call it telepathically. Washu after talking to them had devised a way to allow them to do that with relative ease. She had given them each a gem of sorts that was imbedded into them that linked the three of them. This had brought their relationships to a heightened level as not only did it allow them to just talk but to feel each others emotions and desires as well.

"They can't be separated can they?" Tsunami regarded Sasami and just gave her a slight smile as she nodded.

"The three of them are so devoted and connected to each other that it would be impossible for one or even two to live without the other." She could not be certain but she was sure that she was not far off on her assumption that their life forces had nearly become one, so that if one were to die it would devastate those remaining. However it also prolonged their life as well and if they had not been immortal before then they would definitely be now. As it was Tsunami could not even put a date to the end of their lives like she could for nearly every other being around. Sadly Nobuyuki and Mihoshi, even with their extended lives had a date which they would join his first wife.

"When can we restore her memories?"

"Sasami, it has only been a few years, give it time." Sasami just sighed and watched her family and friends growing old.

Until the day she was to join with Tsunami, Sasami had also been growing older, but now she just was like Tsunami herself. It had taken some getting used to but she had not accepted it completely yet, though she did accept the assimilation. The two were joined, and though it would be sad to watch her loved ones slowly die while she remained for ages to come. In the back of her mind, she still toyed with the idea of giving up her body some day as well just so she could be with her friends.

For now, Sasami was content to watch and she knew that not all of her family would leave her so quickly. Already she knew the day her parents would die though they were retired and her sister had assumed the throne. Although she knew this, she chose not to think of it or let it rule her thoughts. Instead, she chooses to just let it happen and have things surprise her. However, there was one thing that she could not turn her mind from nor could she stop thinking about, as this one thing had ruled her mind for the past decade or more.

"Tsunami… is there a way to ask what she knows without telling her of her memories?"

"As in all things there might be a way, but finding that way will be difficult without telling her the truth."

"May I try?" Sasami looked at Tsunami and though she always felt that she was looking at a mirror image now that the two looked alike. However they were still very different though they were the same.

"Yes, we will try." And with that, they disappeared from Tsunami's eternal home to a bedroom close to Earth. The room was not actually on earth but in a small pocket dimension attached to it. Along one wall was a very large and lavish bed with sheets similar to the finest silk on Earth but better. They were not of Earth though as the owner had picked them up from a planet far away from there. She moved closer to the bed where a woman with red hair lies sleeping. Her hair was disarrayed across the pillows and at the moment she was on her side not far from the center of the bed. Tsunami sat on the edge and placed a hand on the sleeping scientist's shoulder to wake her up.

Washu groaned and tried to swat the hand away, obviously not willing to wake up just yet. The goddess kept shaking her gently until her eyes slowly opened. Upon opening her eyes, she wearily looked around and her eyes finally settled on Tsunami, which only resulted in another groan from the scientist. "What do you want?"

Right before Tsunami was about to speak a male voice was heard, "Tell them to go away!"

The goddess looked up suddenly and noticed Yosho was sleeping behind Washu and up till now her hair had been partially blocking him from view. "It's Tsunami…" Washu mumbled and pulled the sheets up over their shoulders close to her neck.

"Oh that's nice…" He mumbled and fell back to the bed from where he had been trying to sit up. At least until he heard the goddess snicker then he sat upright. "Tsunami!" His eyes were wide open and he slowly turned his head to see a snickering goddess sitting on the edge of the bed. It wasn't until he saw her turn her head away from him that he remembered that all that was covering him was the sheets of Washu's bed and that was only from the waist down! As he clutched the sheets to himself, the goddess went from snickering to actually laughing. "Oh Tsunami! I'm… well I'm…"

She just held up a hand, "Don't worry Yosho. I have come to see Washu. You may stay there." He just nodded and tried to hide under the sheets.

Waving her hand Washu's clothes swarmed around her and she removed herself from the bed. As she did this Tsunami moved away still snickering slightly to give her some room and to save Yosho from more embarrassment. The two females met in what looked to be a large living room or sorts. Tsunami looked around slightly at it wondering where exactly they were in the lab.

"If you're looking for the lab we're not in it."

"Then where is it?"

"This is my home, where I go to rest and think. Surely you didn't think I spent every waking moment in my lab did you?" Tsunami as Sasami just nodded her head. "Well, I guess I never showed anyone this place before…" she started thinking to herself then chuckled, "I don't think Ryoko even knows this is here."

"You really need to get out more."

"Now Sasami I don't think you came all this way just to tell me that did you? So off with it, what's up?"

"Do you believe in fate?"

"Fate?" She asked raising a brow also in question, "You mean like do two people belong together and stuff like that?" Sasami just nodded. "I guess it's possible, though it's hard to believe that two people belong together no matter what?"

"What of Tenchi and Ryoko? Do they seem fated together or is it just a lot of random chances that got them to where they are today?"

"Good question, I have actually had my computers working on that, but I've tabled that as it really didn't seem all that important. Though the chances of such a thing are amazing!" She began to pace the room prattling off things. "Just imagine for a moment that Tenchi listened to his grandfather and never released her then he would never have known what he really was and Ayeka would still be asleep. But if Ryoko had never attacked Jurai then Yosho would have never left meaning that Achika or Tenchi would never have been born and Yosho and Achika would be married." She stopped suddenly and shook her head as if some near disgusting thought had come to it. "And Let's not forget about how this all affected me, I would still be trapped on the Soujya if none of that had happened, though I still don't see how Mihoshi got down there…"

"Washu? Little Washu?"

The scientist had gone off into her mind trying to understand how the ditz had actually managed to appear in the right place at seemingly the right time to change the course of history. "Huh, oh yea. Well I guess it's possible." Suddenly a revelation hit her. "You had something to do with all that didn't you!"

"Yes I did, but a small part," the goddess said gently hoping that she would not give too much away.

"Are you saying that something happened that wasn't supposed to? If this is about Yosho I can explain, you see he and I were just very lonely and you see…" Washu was making hand gestures and a slight pinkish hue appeared on her cheeks as she began trying to explain what happened.

"This has nothing to do with that," she said giggling.

"Oh that's good… Hay! Then what does this have to do with?"

"Do you think that everyone has a purpose to fulfil? Like a lifetime goal?"

She thought about it and Washu was not quite sure she liked where this was headed. "Don't tell me I've reached my goal?"

"What?" It donned on her what Washu was referring to, "Oh no not yet… I mean I was talking about Tenchi."

Washu studied her for a moment and wondered what it was that she had not done yet, as the sudden change in subject. "I see, so he had something else to do? Don't tell me he has to go to Jurai?"

Tsunami groaned, as this was not going the way she had intended. "No, he doesn't unless he wants to. I meant…" she paused for a moment trying to find a way to say this without giving it all away.

"Tell her what you really meant." A feminine voice called to them from nowhere.

"Tsunami, did, you do that?"

Tsunami stood erect and paled at the voice. "It can't be time!"

"Time for what!" demanded Washu.

Washu's room disappeared leaving the two women standing in the vastness of black nothingness. She realized that she was no longer in her lab and was being moved to another place. When she looked at Tsunami she looked frightened, but not of what was going on but for something else. Before she could even give it much though she appeared in a vast room standing on a dais with a large red gem floating in mid air.

"Greetings Washu and Tsunami," it said in a very monotone voice.

"Greetings D3, You're presence is not required for now."

"As you wish." It said then disappeared.

"Tsunami, what the hell was that?"

"That my sister is my servant." Again the voice seemed to come from everywhere, yet nowhere.

"Sister! Tsunami what's…" She did not get to finish as the walls and ceiling disappeared. As they disappeared, large black figures formed around what was the room. But what got her attention were three silhouettes that appeared ahead of her in the air. One of them came into view as being a very regal and proud woman. The other two stayed as ghostly figures, but Washu was sure one was of Tsunami but he third, looked like her.

"Must you always go for the dramatic entrance." Tsunami said with a hint of laughter.

"Sister it has come time now for the reunion." The woman said without moving her lips. Washu was just staring at the shadow that looked like hers, as if mesmerized. "Yes Washu, you are our sister and it has come now for you to remember. Call the gems."

"What the hell is this! And who are you!"

"That is Tokimi, our sister." Tsunami provided gently. Washu's head snapped over to Tsunami so fast that the goddess was afraid that she might have hurt herself. "Please call the gems and all will be answered."

She did not want to admit it but Washu was scared, "But Ryoko has them and they are her power source."

"No, her power was amplified through them. Call them and all will be explained." The voice demanded.

"Well for one the gems are too far away and how do I know that they will come to me? Also how am I supposed to call them, and wouldn't it hurt Ryoko?" Washu was trying to find any excuse not to do this.

She relaxed some when Tsunami placed her hand on the scientists' shoulder. "Washu, do not fear for her safety, and yes they are yours. Trust me. Just call to them to return."

Closing her eyes Washu did as she was asked though she felt silly doing it. Before she could open them she felt confusion and pain from Ryoko and then everything seemed to evaporate around her as the gems appeared around her. Opening her eyes she knew, she knew who she was and what she was. "Oh god!"

"Wrong sister, Oh goddess is more like it." She looked at her sisters and they were now somewhere that she had not been in for many thousands of years. Beside her were her two sisters, Tokimi and Tsunami.

She looked back and forth between them but before a word of welcome could be uttered, Washu began to laugh. Her sisters just looked on with a confused but amused look as they waited for her to finish. "You know, Yosho is gonna have a heart attack if he finds out he's had sex with a goddess!"

"Oh Washu! Be reasonable, that is not what this is about," grumbled Tokimi.

"Come off it, you're just jealous that I've had sex and you haven't!" Washu retorted grinning the whole time.

Anger raced across Tokimi's face as she stared at Washu. Such hate and loathing she had not felt for a long time, in fact the last time she felt this way was when Washu had left to join the mortals. "Washu… If I could I would kill you now just like I wanted to then."

"Yea, but you couldn't so there!" She replied sticking out her tongue.

"Sisters! Please." Tsunami nearly shouted to get their attention. "I must admit I am surprised that it is time already for the One…"

"Really sister, you've spent so much time worrying about Washu and her family that you've completely forgotten that the One is to come."

"I have not! I mean, yes I have been wondering about them. But I guess she is of the right age, though Washu why is the one a female? Wasn't she supposed to be a boy?"

The scientist started snickering. "You're both a bit off, the One as you put it is not old enough yet."

Tokimi hissed out between clenched teeth in an effort to quell her anger, "Yes she is, The One is to be the first born of Tsunami's Avatar and Washu's Daughter, and he shall…"

"Wait, wait right there," Washu Interrupted. "You're right that the One has been born and that the One is the firstborn of my daughter, but it is not Rei. We have six more years before the One is ready."

"What do you mean Washu?" To say the least Tsunami was confused.

"What I mean sisters is that Mei Masaki is the One you are waiting for." Behind her appeared the image of Mei appeared and this thoroughly confused her sisters.

"But how can that be? She is not the first born, she…." Tokimi stopped suddenly as Washu began laughing. "I fail to see how this is funny."

Washu tried hard to tell her sisters between her laughing that since the plan was originally made she had set this to be. "You… should see… your… faces!" She added barely able to contain her laughter anymore.

Tsunami thought about it for a moment, and then suddenly she began to snicker followed by outright laughing as well. 'This is why I have been unable to see her path, she is the One! And all this time we thought it would be Ryoko's child!" Sasami and Tsunami laughed so hard that she actually fell over backwards and landed hard on her backside, but after all, of her worrying and thinking, she had not expected this, 'It's just like the Goddess of Chaos to do this!'

Unable to contain her frustration Tokimi huffed off for a moment while the other two continued to laugh for a mew minutes longer. Finally the two of them were able to stop; Tsunami looked up at Washu as the scientist was still standing. "Why Mei? I mean couldn't it of been Rei too?"

"Yes Rei could have been the one, but she will not get as strong as Mei will. You see Mei is a going to grow up and me a meta-morph like her mother. She will be able to become a spaceship, a cabbit or a woman at first, then as she grows she will be able to change into what ever she wants."

"Oh, but is that the only reason?"

"No, actually since Ryo-Ohki never had a uterus or ovaries she could not conceive at all no matter how hard she tried. So I cloned Ryoko's uterus and Ryo-Ohki assimilated it into herself."

"But what of the ovaries?"

"I'm getting to it! Anyway Ryoko gave up one of her ovaries for Ryo-Ohki and when she assimilated those, it gave her Ryoko's powers to go along with her own. Then when combined with Tenchi it added the Light Hawk Wing's to it as well." Tsunami's face became serious as she contemplated this, as Washu sat on the ground beside her suddenly becoming very serious herself. "Tsunami, not only will Mei fulfil this prophecy, but she will become the Light Hawk."

"WHAT! No!" Tokimi suddenly blurted as she had heard the whole exchange.

"But sister, if she becomes that then she…" Fear was evident on Tsunami's normally happy face.

"I know Tsunami, she will become above us and could end us as well."

"Washu! How could you do this!" Spat Tokimi.

"I knew that you were looking for a male to become that, which is why I made it a female. A male that could become the Light Hawk would become unstable and could lash out before he knew what he was doing. Males have too much bravado and fighting tendencies and are never in touch with their emotions, where Mei already shows that she prefers the passive route and most importantly she can express her emotions."

"But Washu!"

"No buts… Look she is born and her powers have not come into maturity yet, and I do not fear her when they do. You Tokimi would have preferred a male as would I for the simple reason that we might could control him through sex or love." Tokimi's face reddened, but it was hard to tell if it was from embarrassment or anger.

Tsunami looked back to Mie and looked into her heart, and like her father, there was a great deal of respect and tenderness. But unlike him, she was in touch with her feelings. This would allow her to achieve more and do it faster that he ever could. Since he had spent so long wrestling with his emotions, he could not even call on his full power. Instead, he only accessed three of his five Light Hawk Wing's. Mei and her sister will each have more than that but Mei will have several other advantages over them all.

She stood up from her spot on the floor and rubbed her backside, which felt a little sore from falling on it but the soreness was soon gone. "Sisters, I see that Washu made the right choice in this, better than me even. I support this and if Mei does decide that she wants our power, I will give it to her. From the Light Hawk we used the power to create, and in the end if the power must return then this child can take my power back to the Light Hawk."

Tokimi shouted, "You can't be serious!"

Washu just nodded. She knew when they made their pact before all was set in place she knew this would happen. "Well sisters," she said at last, "I need to return home."

"Already Washu?"

"Yes Tsunami, my family is waiting, and I need to do some explaining to Ryoko about the gems."

"Very well," Tsunami said then hugged Washu, "Take care and tell the others I said hello."

"You could return with me ya know?"

Tsunami thought about it but it was Tokimi that made up her mind for her, "Fine! Both of you go and leave me! If you wish to give this child power to destroy us all then so be it!" And with that, the two other goddesses found themselves back in Washu's lab.

"Well, she took that pretty well."

Tsunami just laughed again and the two goddesses talked more about their families and destiny. As they talked Tsunami thought about the two children. 'Rei, you will have a hard life if you choose space. Many still hate the name Ryoko and with her being your mother you will have a dark shadow following you. But you could be the one that heals the pain and hurts of the past; you could restore the family name to a place of honor as it once was. Mei Masaki, so much is riding on your development, I only pray that you learn the love of your parents and choose the path of honor and love. When you become the Light Hawk itself you will have all the power of the three, and you could destroy us. I hope it does not come to that.'

"Hay! Tsunami?"

"Yes Washu?"

"You zoned out on me there." The other goddesses looked down and was about to apologize when Washu spoke up again, "It's kind of late now on earth and Yosho is gonna come back I was wondering if you could maybe…"

"Say no more," she said holding up a hand. "There I have given him over to you. His destiny and life is in your hands, though I would suggest you tell him that."

"Oh he already knows his life is in my hands." She said grinning evilly.

"I don't even want to know what you will do to him from now on," she said to her sister then giggling she gave Washu one last hug before she departed to her own realm.


End file.
